The Suicide Killer
by thedarkangel22
Summary: 'Kill him…' the voice inside her head whispered tauntingly, and she closed her eyes for a moment, trying to get herself under control. Bad things happened when she wasn't in control. Very bad things. "Kakashi. How wonderful it is to see you again." Semi-AU, in a world where Sasuke doesn't leave. Kakashi/OC. Rated T for now.
1. Prologue

**Prologue (EDITED)**

"This is such a drag," groaned Shikamaru as he lay flat on his back staring up at the dancing leaves above him.

"You can't just lay there dammit! Fight me!" Naruto shouted, fist clenched as he regarded his opponent. He'd gone through four others, but they all either refused to continue sparring after a while, or just gave up, like in the case of Shikamaru.

"I don't know where you're getting all that energy from, but I don't have any. I'm not moving."

Naruto scowled at the other shinobi before turning to the others who were sprawled out around them. Not many missions had come in that week, which meant that most of the shinobi of the village had nothing to do but rest up and train. Asuma, Guy, Kurenai and Kakashi thought it would be a good idea to put all their respective teams together so they could practice amongst themselves, leaving the Jonin to relax in peace. Of course Kakashi was still nowhere to be seen, but Naruto paid no mind as he volunteered to be part of the first sparring match.

He'd fought Tenten, Choji, Kiba and Shikamaru, all of whom got irritated with his hyperactive self at some point. He was fairly sure that if he sat out the next match, two of his comrades would take the opportunity to spar, but he hated to just sit and watch. It made him antsy.

"Ino! Come spar with me!"

From where she was sitting, Ino blanched. The last thing she wanted to do was get up and fight. It was the middle of summer and the trees did little to protect them from the blistering sun. No one wanted to do anything but lay around.

Except Naruto of course.

"You must actually be stupid if you think that I'm getting up from here, Naruto. Choji finally gave up some shade. I'm not moving."

Chuckling, Asuma looked over at them from where he was sitting with Kurenai and Guy in the branches of a large tree.

"That Naruto never fails to amuse me," he laughed, leaning back against the trunk. A moment later, the grin fell off his face. "Do you feel that?" he asked, but Guy and Kurenai were already looking in the direction the new chakra was coming from.

They all jumped to the ground, drawing the attention of the chunin.

"What's happening?" whispered Hinata just as Akamaru began to growl.

"Someone's coming," replied Sakura, and some of the others turned to her. "You can feel their chakra."

While everyone was engrossed with the incomers, Naruto was still oblivious. Finally noticing that the others weren't paying attention to him, he crossed his arms, glowering at the group.

"Well who's going to fight me!?"

Just as he shouted the words, a patch of black smoke drifted into the clearing. The Jonin were on the move, positioning themselves between the smoke and the group of chunin.

"…I'll fight you…"

The disembodied voice seemed to float around them, but there was no body to go with it.

"Show yourself, villain!" shouted Guy, taking up a fighting stance.

The black smoke began to slowly come together, materializing into something. A girl. It took only a couple of seconds, and most of the chunin missed it, but there she was, a girl, standing across from Naruto.

She was wearing all black. Black cropped halter-top, loose fitting black pants slung low on her hips, black sandals. Even her long hair was inky black as it blew in the slight breeze. She wore her forehead protector on her left upper arm, but the symbol on it was not one that most of the chunin could identify.

"What the…" Naruto whispered as the girl raised her smoky grey eyes to meet his blue ones. "Who…who are you?" he asked, but the girl only smirked.

"You said you wanted to fight, right?" she said, her voice sending chills up Naruto's spine. "So let's fight little boy."

That seemed to jar Naruto out of his temporary paralysis and he narrowed his eyes at the newcomer.

"Hey! I'm not a little boy! I'll show you, just you wait!" he shouted, unaware that everyone was staring at the two of them.

"Do you recognize the symbol," whispered Kurenai to Asuma and he nodded slowly.

"Shadow ninja."

"Please don't kill him."

At the new voice, everyone turned to see a tall man jump down from the cover of the trees. He wore all black, just like the girl, except he also wore a vest like the other Jonin, though his was grey rather than green. He wore a forehead protector bearing the same symbol as the mysterious girl too.

The man looked at the group and then smiled apologetically, running a hand through his dark hair. Looking back towards the girl, he raised his eyebrows.

"I'm serious Arya. If you kill this one too, you're on your own. I'm still filling out paperwork from the last time. And you know how much I hate doing paperwork."

"Yea, and we're tired of having to clean up, so, take it easy."

In a dark blur, two more shinobi appeared by the man. They too were wearing all black and wore the same forehead protector.

"Speak for yourself, Haru. It's kinda fun to watch her when she get's like that," said the man with the brown hair, smirking at his friend.

"You'd watch her do anything, Zen, you freak," retorted the chunin with ashy blonde hair, crossing his arms.

"Who are you?" asked Sakura after a moment of silence. Sighing, Asuma sat back down, Guy and Kurenai seeming to relax ever so slightly. Leaning back, he squinted up at them. "It's fine," he said lightly, addressing the younger shinobi. "They're not going to do anything."

"Do you know these people Sensei?" asked Ino, glancing first at Asuma and then between the other two Jonin. Closing his eyes, Asuma crossed his arms and Ino wondered if he'd heard her question.

"It's been a while. Enta Yumana," he said finally, and everyone's eyes darted to the other man who grinned slowly.

"Asuma, you old dog. I thought I'd sensed your chakra. How've you been?"

"Asuma-sensei knows this guy?" whispered Sakura to Ino as they huddled together.

"Guy-sensei too, apparently," answered Ino in a whisper as they watched the ninja in question burst into happy tears as he enigmatically embraced the new addition to the Jonin.

"I'm alive," responded Asuma with a shrug, and slowly his lips twisted into a grin as he watched Enta try to pry Guy off him. "Just as you are I see. Who are your friends?"

"Ah, let me introduce you to my students, Zen Kureshi and Haru Higa," he said proudly, putting a hand on each young man's shoulder as he mentioned their names. "And our volatile friend over there is Arya Rin."

At the mention of the girl's name, Asuma raised an eyebrow in surprise, both Kurenai and Guy exchanging wide-eyed looks. "You mean…that's her?"

Following their gaze, Enta crossed his arms while he also regarded his student. "That depends on what you mean," he said slowly, keeping his eyes on the dark haired kunoichi.

"So it is true. She really is the one that they speak of," said Asuma, the wheels already spinning in his sharp mind. "The Suicide Killer."

Kurenai gasped quietly, and a wry smile appeared on Enta's face at the nickname. It was an apt one, yes, but even then, he'd hoped that the name would have been dropped, at least by the Leaf ninja. Arya didn't need the encouragement that title brought. She'd spent too much time learning to control herself to be reduced to being 'The Suicide Killer' again.

"I wouldn't say—"

"Arya."

At the sound of his voice, everyone looked over. The Jonin exchanged a quick, wary look before turning to look at him too.

Kakashi.

Sighing quietly, Enta rubbed the back of his neck.

"I was hoping we wouldn't run into him," he muttered, and Asuma couldn't help but chuckle.

If they had been paying closer attention to the girl, they would have noticed that she tensed a moment before Kakashi appeared in the clearing. When he said her name, her teeth clenched and her eyes narrowed.

'_Kill him…' _ the voice inside her head whispered tauntingly, and she closed her eyes for a moment, trying to get herself under control. Bad things happened when she wasn't in control. Very bad things.

She knew, from the moment Enta mentioned that they'd be visiting the hidden leaf village, she knew that they would cross paths with…him.

She knew they'd be watching her now. All of them. And so she took a quiet breath, fixing a pretty sneer on her face before turning away from the blonde kid before her and to the silver-haired man.

"Kakashi," she said, enjoying that something flickered in his one visible eye when she'd said his name. It only lasted a fraction of a second, but she saw it, and she fed off it.

"How wonderful it is to see you again."

* * *

**As I mentioned before, this story is semi-AU. Exact events that happened in the show probably won't happen in this story. For example, Sasuke doesn't leave in this story, doesn't do any of the other things he did in the anime (ie he doesn't join the dark side). He, Naruto, Sakura and the others will still grow to be as powerful as they are in the show/manga though, so don't worry.**

**If you have any questions, leave me a review :)**


	2. Chapter 1

_**So just to clear some stuff up; I've skewed the ages a bit, just for the sake of the story. Kakashi and the other Jonin are about 25-26, Arya, Zen and Haru are about 20, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and the others are 17-19. I also realize that I called them genin before, but at that age they'd more likely be at least chunin. And soooo I went back and fixed that :)**_

* * *

"You know, the grass never did anything to you."

At Zen's words, Arya looked up from her furious grass picking to glare at her teammate. She was sitting with him and Haru under a tree, away from the other chunin. The others were all huddled together a couple feet away, close enough that she could eavesdrop on them if she chose to do so. She purposely tuned them out however, or rather she tried to, but that blonde kid, Naruto, was being ridiculously loud. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were talking about. Besides, there were other things on her mind. Well, one thing really.

And his name was Kakashi Hatake.

Said individual was standing at the far end of the clearing with Enta and the other Jonin, hands casually tucked in his pockets as he said something. They were all taking care to keep their voices down, but, again, she could have probably listened in on them if she wanted to.

At that moment Enta and Asuma started to laugh, and Enta clapped a hand on Kakashi's back. The silver haired man, however, didn't seem to share their amusement, because he simply glowered at the ground, crossing his arms. She tried, but she couldn't help the twitch of her lips at the sight of Kakashi looking like a petulant child.

"So are you going to talk to him?" asked Haru, drawing her attention away from them. She glanced in the blonde's direction, taking in his long, lanky form sprawled out in the grass in front of her.

"We have nothing to talk about," she said curtly, resuming her violent grass picking. Both Haru and Zen couldn't help but laugh at that, and she looked up to glare at them both.

"What?" she snapped and Zen shook his head, holding his hands up in mock surrender.

"Don't hurt us, princess," he teased, using that dreadful nickname her team picked out for her when they first got together. "It was a pretty good question. And I personally think you guys should talk. Even if that means he's going to leave the conversation bloody and bruised."

Arya rolled her eyes even as the boys snickered again. She may act very hostile and defensive, but there were a few people with whom she let down her guard. The two shinobi sitting with her were two of them, Enta was the other.

At one time there was another with whom she shared everything, but that person was no longer in her life. Her shoulders sank very slightly at the thought. The memories. It had been years, and she was over it, or so she convinced herself, but there were days she didn't quite feel so…over it. Days where the pain seemed just as strong as it did then.

She hated those days. They made her feel weak, and that was something she promised herself she'd never, ever be again.

Frowning down at the pieces of ripped grass in her hands, she fought the urge to rub the spot on her chest where a dull ache began. Sighing quietly, she closed her eyes, but the images flashed in her head anyway. Memories. Thoughts. _Feelings._ God she hated feelings.

Gnawing on her bottom lip, she looked over at Kakashi, her eyes landing on him instantly. It was at that exact moment that he decided to look over at her, and from across the clearing, their eyes met.

How was it that he still held the power to make the hairs on the back of her neck stand, just by looking at her? She resented him for that. Resented herself for giving him that kind of power over her, even after all that time.

Though both their faces remained passive, almost bored even, their eyes were anything but. The tension in the air was almost palpable. She wasn't paying much attention, but everyone had gone silent, even that annoying blonde leaf ninja.

'_Kill him…'_ snarled the treacherous voice in her head, louder than before. _'Kill him, kill him. He must die. Kill him, I'll even do it for you…'_ the voice chanted, getting even louder. Her hands started to get clammy and began to tremble ever so slightly. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Zen and Haru sit up slowly, moving closer to her. Her heart was thudding in her chest, and the air around her seemed to get heavier. And through it all, her gaze remained locked with Kakashi's.

He was staring at her more intently now, and she watched as something flickered in his eye, brow furrowing every so slightly. She was trying, very hard, to calm herself down, to quiet the voice in her head, but she found that the techniques Enta had taught her weren't doing much. She was too frazzled, she wasn't focusing.

The voice was getting louder, more insistent. Her head was pounding almost unbearably and it was only getting worse. This wasn't good. Not at all.

"Arya," said Zen softly, trying to snap her out of it. After being with her day in and day out for the past few years, the two of them knew her inside and out. They'd seen her at every point, every high and every low. Though they hadn't seen it happen very often, they knew that she was losing control of the beast inside her.

And it was because of him. Kakashi.

"It's alright," murmured Haru from the other side of her. He reached out, presumably to touch her, but she growled low in her throat without intending to do so, making him retract his hand. It proved exactly how little control she had. All that hard work over the years, and it had all gone to shit in the span of ten minutes.

A particularly painful throbbing started in her head, and she could no longer hold her composition. She squeezed her eyes shut, closing Kakashi out of her line of vision. Her hand came up to press against her forehead, and she heard Zen curse under his breath.

All of a sudden she felt the air shift, and then she felt large, cool hands press on either side of her head. The gentle, chakra infused pressure seemed to counteract the throbbing, and she dropped her hand back into her lap, her face relaxing again.

"I've got ya princess," said Enta, sounding casual and relaxed, as though nothing was wrong. She opened her eyes to look into his deep brown ones. He held her gaze, and she slowly felt herself relaxing further. Her thundering heart slowed down, and she stopped trembling. The voice in her head huffed in annoyance and then disappeared.

Closing her eyes again, she exhaled deeply, pushing her sensei's hands off her. She looked up at the group of chunin across from her to see that they were all staring at her. Even the Jonin were staring at her.

_He_ was staring at her.

'…_monster…' _

The word whispered through her mind, and she had to bite the inside of her lip to keep it from trembling.

"Arya-" Enta started, looking at her with those stupid, understanding eyes. Shooting him, and everyone else, a fierce glare, she vanished, the only trace left of her being a cloud of black smoke left in her place. The smoke gathered and spun furiously, and then it too was gone.

Sighing, Enta rubbed his forehead before looking over his shoulder at Kakashi. His old friend held his gaze for a long moment. And though the other man was known for having one of the best poker faces in the village, Enta caught a glimpse of… something in his eye. It could have been surprise, but the Shadow village Jonin thought it was more than that. It looked more like…sadness.

Before Enta could read into anything, Kakashi also vanished in a blur.

"Fan-fucking-tastic," he muttered under his breath, shaking his head as a wry smile crossed his lips.

From across the clearing, Naruto had just managed to find his voice again.

"What the hell is going on?!"

Sighing, he laid back in the grass, squinting up at the clouds. If only the kid knew.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys, I'd really love it if y'all could leave me a comment/review. Pretty please? :)**

* * *

Zen woke up to his Sensei pouring a bucket of ice-cold water on his face. Sputtering, he sat up and stared at a grinning Enta and an equally amused Haru standing in his room.

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty," said Enta, looking far too cheery considering it was like, nine in the morning.

"I really wish you'd stop doing that," he muttered, taking of his soaked t-shirt and throwing it across the small room.

"And I really wish you'd wake up on time for training. I guess we're both not getting what we wished for, huh?" said the Jonin, dropping down onto the dry side of the bed. "Go get dressed. We're already late."

"And take that shirt with you," added Haru from where he was leaning against the doorframe. "The Hokage didn't give us housing for you to fuck up the floors by leaving wet clothes on it. "

"That too," said Enta, his ever-present grin covering half his face.

Grumbling under his breath, Zen slid out of bed and ran a hand through his hair, shaking out water droplets. He made his way to the bathroom, but stopped just short of the door.

"Is she back yet?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at Enta. It had been four days since Arya had left the clearing, and she still wasn't back. Of course it wasn't exactly new for her to get angry and go off on her own for a couple days, but still. It was different this time. _He_ was out there.

Despite the younger boys' question, Enta's grin did not falter. Instead, he put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. "Not yet. Now go get ready, you're holding us up."

Zen looked over at Haru who only shrugged and looked away. He was worried too, Zen knew it for a fact. And though Enta seemed to be very nonchalant about the whole situation, he knew their Sensei was also anxiously waiting on Arya's return.

Sighing, Zen walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

_._._._._

"Fucking hell," muttered Zen as he laid flat on his back, staring up at Enta who stood over him with crossed arms.

"How many times have I told you to watch that blind spot?" he barked, raising an eyebrow. "And you," he continued, turning on Haru who stood across from them, hands braced on his knees as he caught his breath. "What part of 'no genjutsu' did you not understand? I specifically said only taijutsu. The two of you will put me in an early grave, I swear."

"You're reckless enough to put yourself there."

Both Zen and Haru grinned and sat up, looking in the direction of the voice. As they watched, black smoke slowly began to materialize into the familiar features of the third member of their team.

"Look what the wind blew in," teased Zen as he jumped to his feet and appeared at her side, putting an arm around her shoulders. Arya only rolled her eyes, but her lips quirked up in a miniscule smirk.

"That joke is getting old," she said leaning into him for a quick moment before elbowing him in the side and stepping away.

"It's the only joke he knows," said Haru grinning at her and she smiled back before looking at Enta. The older man watched her coolly for a long minute before grinning widely.

"You shouldn't talk about recklessness princess," he commented, running a hand through his hair. "But now that you've decided to rejoin us, get to work. You've missed four days of training and meetings with the Hokage."

"I didn't miss any training," she said, tying up her long black hair in a ponytail. "In fact, I probably spent more time training over the past few days than the three of you."

Enta shook his head, a smirk on his lips as he regarded the only female member of his squad. Of course she'd spend her time away training. It was a reoccurring theme; she's get upset or angry and she'd go off on her own and spend countless hours training, punishing herself almost. The kid was too hard on herself, thought Enta, but telling her that would only result in pissing her off again, so he never brought it up.

"When was the last time you ate?" he asked instead. He knew that when she got into one of those anger-induced training moods, she'd often neglect to take care of herself.

Arya couldn't help the sheepish smile that appeared on her face at the question. "Ah, I don't remember exactly," she said, twirling a lock of her own hair. In truth, it had been a while since she'd had an actual meal. Whenever she remembered to eat, she just grabbed a handful of nuts or an apple or something she else she could find in the forest. It wasn't her fault really, she just chose to stay out in the wilderness and away from civilization during her 'trips'. She was less likely to accidentally hurt someone that way, and it also meant that she wouldn't have to deal with people.

"That's code for, 'I haven't eaten since I left'," said Haru, shaking his head. The blonde was the self-appointed 'mother' of the group. Always telling them what to do and how to do it, worrying over them. It was…sweet, though Arya would never tell him that.

She shrugged, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder. "So are we going to train or what?" she asked, looking between the three men.

"No. We're going to get food. It's lunchtime anyway. We can continue later."

Arya frowned at Enta even as Zen and Haru high-fived one another. She started to protest, but her Sensei cut her off with a stern look. Enta was rarely serious with them, but when it came to the health of his squad, he was adamant. Especially when it concerned Arya, who would go days without eating or sleeping if she could get away with it.

"Fine, fine," she muttered, following the others as they headed back towards the village.

_._._._._

They walked into a quaint little restaurant a couple moments later, Arya literally dragging her feet as she followed at the back of the group. She'd rather be training, but of course the boys wanted to eat.

Idiots.

When she heard that stupid blonde kid from before yelling something about ramen, she groaned. Perhaps if it were just the annoying kid, she would have ignored it. Hell, even if he was with the rest of his friends she'd have dealt with it. But he was with _him._ She was back in the village for all of ten minutes and she was already crossing paths with Kakashi Hatake again.

Perfect.

Haru and Zen noticed the other squad moments after she did, and they exchanged a look over her head before trying to subtly direct the group to the opposite end of the restaurant.

"Hey! Hey! Zen, Haru, Arya, Enta-Sensei! Come sit with us!"

Arya nearly growled as he called them, shouting unnecessarily loud, drawing the attention of everyone in the restaurant. She didn't even bother to acknowledge the boy, Naruto, and she instead continued to walk by them. Haru started to decline the request, polite guy that he was, but Enta interrupted him.

"Of course we'll join you," he said, grinning widely, and Arya froze in her spot, as did Haru and Zen. Enta paid no mind to them however, and he went ahead and slid into the booth, sitting beside Kakashi. The girl on the other side of the silver-haired man looked just as shocked as they did.

The Kunoichi looked between Enta, Arya, and her own sensei, who was staring pointedly at his friend. Clearly the girl picked up on the…tension between Kakashi and her. Enta and Naruto however, were a different story.

"Uh, we don't want to bother them…" started Haru, looking between Arya and Enta.

"Nah, it's no bother!" chuckled Naruto, motioning for them to come over. Her teammates didn't move though, and she knew they wouldn't until she did. Arya sighed, rubbing her forehead. She'd walk out of the restaurant, but Enta would just cause a scene. Besides, if she left, Haru and Zen would too.

Cursing under her breath, she walked over and slid into the booth next to Naruto, since sitting next to Enta would make her want to punch him in the face. After a moment's hesitation, Zen and Haru joined them, the brunette sitting next to her and the blonde sitting next to Enta.

"Hi!" said Naruto to her loudly, turning slightly in his seat, and for a moment she wondered if sitting next to him was such a good idea. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

Arya nodded, crossing her legs under the table. She wanted to glare at Enta for putting her in this position, but looking at him meant that she was basically looking at Kakashi as well. So instead she turned to the boy beside her.

"I know your name," she said, giving him a forced smile. He didn't seem to notice the dryness of her tone however, because he sent her a blinding grin.

"Have you met my teammates?" he questioned enthusiastically. Before she could answer, he continued. "This is Sakura and this is Sasuke. And, well, I guess you already know Kakashi Sensei…how do you know him by the way?"

The boy on the other side of him, Sasuke, rolled his eyes and she noticed that he subtly kicked his teammate under the table. "It's none of your business, idiot," he mumbled under his breath, and in that instant, Arya took a liking to that boy. Finally someone who understood the importance of minding their own business.

"It was just a question," whined Naruto, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at Sasuke. "I just wanted to know how-"

"Naruto. That's enough."

Kakashi's voice was quiet, but the steely undertone couldn't be mistaken. Instantly Naruto shut his mouth and sank down in his seat, sulking quietly. Sakura gave the boy a long, disapproving look from across the table before turning to Arya with a big smile.

"So, I hear you guys are from the village hidden in the shadows, huh? It's weird, we didn't learn much about it at the Academy. What's it like?"

"Dark, and gloomy," said Arya dryly and Sakura blinked, her smile wavering as she tried to figure out whether or not she was being serious. And while Sakura was fidgeting, Arya noticed that Kakashi's lips twitched slightly in amusement. He always did appreciate dark humor.

He looked up from the spot on the table he was previously staring at just then to glance at her, and their eyes met for a moment, just like in the clearing. But unlike that time in the clearing, the voice in her head was silent. The fact that she was once again in control of herself made her that much more confident and at ease.

Zen bumped her shoulder slightly, shifting a little closer to her, and since she was still looking intently at Kakashi, she noticed the way his eye shifted to the younger man for a moment. Her teammate was looking at her, so he didn't catch the stony look, but Arya did.

And she didn't know what to think of it.

So instead, she turned to Zen, leaning in as he whispered something in her ear that made her laugh lightly and roll her eyes. When she looked back at Kakashi, he was back to staring at the table.

"She's only kidding," said Haru, leaning forward so he could see Sakura past the two Jonin. "It's not all dark and gloomy."

"Oh…so what's it like?" she asked, the smile once again appearing on her face.

"Well, I guess the most distinguishable thing in our village would be the caves. We've got an entire system of underground caves and tunnels beneath the village. There are also cave systems flanking three sides of the village, meaning that there's only one path in and out. That's why our village is so secure and easy to defend. Not to mention the fact that it's relatively small, in terms of population. Beyond the caves, there are rocky cliffs and mountains. They often block out the sunshine, which is why it's often dark, as Arya mentioned."

"That sounds really cool," said Sakura, looking at Haru earnestly as he described the village in which she was born. "So what brings you to our village? Naruto mentioned that he saw you at the Hokage towers." Both Zen and Haru looked at each other before looking at Enta. Only the three of them knew why they were in the village, Arya missed out on the debriefing while she was away, so she couldn't offer any answers even if she wanted to.

"Well it was a variety of reasons," started Enta, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "Since the shadow village is so small, we don't get very many missions. Whatever missions do come our way are usually D-ranks, maybe C-ranks, and I decided that these guys needed something more challenging before they got fat and lazy." Chuckling, he ran a hand through his dark hair. "Besides, our village recently signed a treaty with your village. As a result, the Hokage suggested that we drop by."

"So you guys were, like, invited by the Hokage?" asked Naruto and Enta shrugged one shoulder.

"I guess you could say that."

Arya was watching her Sensei carefully as he spoke. Though all of what he said was true, she couldn't help but feel that he knew something more that he wasn't sharing. When he and Kakashi exchanged a quick, secretive glance, she was even more positive that there was something else going on.

Before she could do anything about it, the waitress arrived to take their orders, and it was total chaos as Zen and Naruto began to bicker over the menu. And though she still suspected something was up, she let it go for the moment.

A short while later, their food arrived and they all began to eat in amicable silence. Well, Naruto seemed to be inhaling his ramen rather than eating it considering how fast it disappeared from his bowl. Reaching across the table to grab one of Sakura's breadsticks, he turned back to her.

"So I was wondering, what's up with that smoke-cloud thing you do?"

Arya paused in the process of picking at her food to look at the younger shinobi. "Smoke release," she said simply, reaching for her water. At Naruto's confused look, she grudgingly elaborated. "The ability to change into smoke. It's my kekkei genkai. Well, one of them."

"You have more than one kekkei genkai?" asked Sasuke suddenly, speaking up for the first time since they got there. She looked over at him, beyond a wide-eyed Naruto, to meet his dark eyes.

Nodding slowly, she shifted in her seat. She'd prefer not to answer, of course, but Enta was giving her these pointed looks. He was always trying to get her to make new friends and open up, but she remained adamantly against it. Even so, with a sigh, she decided to answer, only because it was Sasuke and his reserved nature reminded her of herself.

"I have three," she started. "The smoke release, which allows me to turn any part of my body into smoke, dark release, which gives me the ability to manipulate other people's chakra, and blood release, which should be self explanatory. I rarely use the last two though, smoke release is my specialty." That last bit was a bit of a bluff. It wasn't that she chose not to use her dark release and blood release, it was just that she wasn't capable of using them all the time like she could with her smoke release. The other two required moulding chakra that wasn't her own, and that took a lot of work. Explaining that to the others would have led to questions she'd rather not answer, and so it was better to just let them believe that it was a choice. Besides, she really did prefer her smoke techniques over the others anyway.

"But that's….impossible," said Sasuke, frowning at her and she raised an eyebrow.

"Well clearly it's not impossible," she said, leaning back in her seat.

"Hold on, kekkei genkai are passed down in clans, right?" asked Naruto, looking between Kakashi and her. "So does that mean both your parents had kekkei genkai? I mean, the only way you could have them is because they gave them to you, right?" He was so absorbed in what he was saying that he didn't notice her tense very slightly at the mention of her parents.

She dropped her eyes to her half eaten plate of food, picking at it again.

"They didn't give me anything," she said firmly before chewing on a string bean. Sakura and Sasuke seemed to pick up on the fact that her words held a deeper meaning than simply explaining her kekkei genkai, and so they both went silent. Naruto, unfortunately, didn't possess the same observational skills as his teammates.

"So how can you have kekkei genkai if you didn't get them from your parents? I mean, Sasuke has his Sharingan because he's an Uchiha and it was passed down to him."

Arya was quickly losing patience with the boy, and Enta must have noticed, because he opened his mouth to step in.

But Kakashi beat him to it.

"Sasuke's Sharingan was passed down to him through his clan, yes, and that's the case with most kekkei genkai, but there are exceptions," he said, moving aside his empty plate to rest his elbows on the table. "Take me for example. I'm not an Uchiha, and yet I possess the Sharingan. That's because I was given Obito Uchiha's eye, which then transferred his kekkei genkai to me."

"So you're saying that she was given her kekkei genkai?" asked Naruto and Kakashi shook his head slowly.

"She didn't get them in the same way I did, but they were…given to her in a sense. Two of them were, at the very least."

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto, confused as ever, but Kakashi held up a hand.

"This isn't an interrogation Naruto, that's enough. Besides, we should get going. We skipped training this morning because you slept in and so we need to make up for it."

Kakashi's eye flicked to her then, just for a moment, flitting over her face. But before she could read anything in his gaze, he looked away.

"What a coincidence," said Enta after a moment, grinning widely. "We're going to go train too. You should join us."

"I don't know Enta, we've got a lot to do," started Kakashi, clearly trying to avoid the situation, but her Sensei was having none of it.

"Oh come on," he chided, smirking at his friend. "Are you afraid that my kids are going to beat yours to a pulp?"

Arya shook her head slowly, already knowing where this was going. She often called Enta an idiot, but he was the smartest idiot she knew. Sure enough, his words had the intended effect because Naruto jumped to his feet, nearly upending the table and everything on it.

"What do you mean?! I'll pulverize these guys! Just you watch, I'm going to kick some butt. Come on Kakashi-Sensei, are you really going to let him say that?"

Kakashi sighed, looking heavenward and Enta's grin grew even wider.

"Fine," he muttered, practically glaring at Naruto who was, as usual, oblivious to it all.

"Wonderful," said Enta, motioning the waitress over so they could pay and leave.

Arya didn't know what Enta was doing, purposely putting Kakashi and Arya in each other's presence knowing full well what happened between them. Clearly he had some sort of an agenda, but she didn't know what.

At least not yet.

Scooting out of the booth behind Zen, they all began walking towards the exit. Naruto was still busy talking about how he was going to beat everyone, but she wasn't paying him much attention.

Zen came up beside her then, casually tossing an arm over her shoulders as they began to walk in the direction of the training fields just outside the village.

Behind them, Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the brown haired chunin with his arm around Arya. The look alone should have been able to bore a hole right through the younger man's head.

"Something bothering you Hatake?" asked Enta as he passed the other Jonin, a knowing smirk plastered on his face. At that, Kakashi glowered at the ground, shoving his hands into his pockets and muttering something under his breath.

Sakura and Sasuke, who brought up the rear of the group, noticed the exchange and shared a curious look.

"I wonder what's going on between Kakashi-Sensei and Arya," whispered Sakura. Sasuke however, was interested in the woman for a different reason entirely.

"I wonder how she is in combat," he said, prompting Sakura to stare at him. "She has three kekkei genkai, and if her other teammates are any indication, she should be proficient in taijutsu too. That would make her a strong opponent."

Looking away from Sasuke, Sakura stared at the ground as they lapsed into silence. She had to admit that his fascination with the new girl had her jealousy flaring up, but she suspected that she and Zen were an item.

Or rather, she hoped they were.

"Maybe that's why they call her the Suicide Killer," commented Sakura eventually. "To be given a title like that…What kind of a monster is she?"

Sasuke frowned slightly, but he chose not to comment. It was pretty obvious that she got the title by killing, there was no doubt about that. And he knew, all too well, what blood thirst felt like. Perhaps he and the newcomer had more in common than he initially thought.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Comment and review people, or I might just have to put this fic on hold ;P lol I joke, but really though, I want to hear your thoughts!**

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Though the group decided to go to the furthest of the available training grounds, it didn't take them very long to get there. Once they stepped into the clearing, Kakashi turned to Enta, arms crossed over his broad chest. He purposely positioned himself in such a way that put Arya and that teammate of hers, behind his back. Though his face remained deceivingly passive, he still had half a mind to punch the boy into the next millennium.

Trying to push all thoughts of murdering the chunin out of his mind, he raised an eyebrow at his long time friend.

"I don't know what kind of game you're trying to play Enta," he started as their combined squads started warming up in the clearing. "But whatever it is, I'm not interested."

Scoffing, Enta leaned back against a tree as he looked over to watch Zen throw a dandelion at Arya who only rolled her eyes, smirking as she continued to stretch in the grass. He then watched inconspicuously as Kakashi turned to follow his gaze, and barely contained a smirk as he watched the other man's visible eye narrow at the two chunin.

"Not interested, huh," stated Enta teasingly, drawing the silver-haired man's attention back to him. If looks could kill, Enta would be six feet under just then.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," said Kakashi, expression as cool and calm as ever. But Enta knew him better than that.

"Of course you don't," he said, straightening up from his position against the tree. "Just a side note though, quit glaring at Zen that way. Arya isn't going to appreciate it." And with a cheeky wink, he walked towards the six students. Behind him, Kakashi used the opportunity to glower at the other Jonin's back as he departed.

What the hell was his problem anyway, he thought, resisting the urge to punch through the tree behind him. It wasn't like him to be so…visibly bothered by someone. He was known for being able to hide anything and everything behind his mask of indifference. So how did a stupid little chunin elicit such a response from him?

As he mused about that, he looked over at where Enta was speaking to the group. The boy, or young man rather, in question didn't seem to be paying attention to what his sensei was saying. Instead, he leaned in close to say something to his two team members. The other man, Haru, flashed a grin, quick and boyish, but that wasn't what captured Kakashi's attention.

What caught his attention was the slow grin that appeared on the raven-haired Kunoichi's face. He watched from a distance as her eyes crinkled up in the way they did when her smiles were sincere. He watched the way two deep dimples appeared in her cheeks as her grin stretched wider. He watched the way the light breeze caught in her long hair and made it dance around her tall, gently curved form.

And when she lifted a hand to gently flick the brown-haired ninja's forehead with her finger, he watched the rare show of affection in her eyes. And as he fought the urge to scowl behind his mask, he grudgingly acknowledged what he'd subconsciously known since the moment the shadow ninja appeared in his village.

He was jealous.

Kakashi Hatake, the infamous copy ninja, was jealous of a man six years his junior.

That thought alone made him furious with himself. _How the mighty have fallen, _he thought ruefully as he continued to watch the young woman who was at the root of all his problems. He stared at her barely realizing that he was doing so, grateful for the fact that the others were all too occupied to look in his direction and catch him in the act.

He watched as she tucked a strand of hair behind the tiny ears he used to tease her about, and wondered how he ever thought that he'd gotten her out of his system. He hadn't seen her since she left the Leaf four long years ago. The distance allowed him to convince himself that he didn't care. Sometimes he even wondered if the whole ordeal was just a dream.

Out of sight, out of mind, right?

But now she was back, and he was quickly realizing that he did in fact care. A lot. And he really wished he didn't. He didn't have the right, not after what he'd done to her. Logically he knew that their…separation was inevitable. It had to happen, for her sake, but she didn't know that. Instead, the then sixteen year old was on the receiving end of his brutal words, none of which he meant, but delivered with a cruel, vicious, indifference regardless.

Not even the death of his old teammate at his hands made Kakashi hate himself more than he did when he watched the tears stream down her pretty face. He saw that image in his head, her big grey eyes, filled with pain and tears, for months after she was gone.

It hurt, but he welcomed the images for that very reason. He deserved to hurt. He deserved every kind of pain for doing what he did. And he did hurt, for years. Her face haunted him wherever he went. He could barely stand to be in his own room for months afterwards because he'd always end up 'seeing' her lounging around the small space as she often did when she was actually around.

Kakashi sighed then, leaning back against the tree, staring up blindly at the leaves that danced in the wind. During those four years he found new ways to punish himself. It was almost ironic that it resulted in him becoming one of the most feared ANBU captains of Konoha. He was ruthless. He fought every battle as though he didn't care if he died, and he really didn't. It was a dark time, one that his friends noticed but didn't know how to help him through.

It'd been a year after she left when the Third finally had Kakashi step down as ANBU captain and take up his new role as Jonin-Sensei, which he approached in much of the same manner. But then he noticed the ill effects it was having on his squads, and he realized that he was punishing them for his own misgivings.

By the time he was assigned his current squad, Kakashi had reigned in most of his resentment with himself. Or at least he acted like he did.

Speaking of his squad, Kakashi could hear Naruto give a mighty yell and he looked over just in time to see the blonde teenager throw a wild punch at Zen, who sidestepped it easily. The Jonin shook his head slightly. Even after training with one of the legendary Sannin, Naruto could still be a hot head.

Instinctively, he shifted his eyes from the ongoing spar to look over at Arya, and he was slightly surprised to see her watching him from where she sat in the grass.

Arya bristled internally when Kakashi caught her staring at him from across the clearing. She'd been watching Zen and Naruto spar, but she couldn't help but glance over at him from time to time. He didn't seem to notice most of the time, since he seemed to be deep in thought, but her luck ran out when he did look over.

"Stay still!" shouted Naruto, and she used it as an excuse to look away from the older man and back to the pair fighting in front of them. Zen of course, stood there smirking like the cocky bastard he was. The Kureshi clan was known for their magnificent speed, and Zen was no different. In the time it took someone to blink, he could have them flat on their back with a kunai in their throat.

"Make me, kid," taunted Zen as he flashed to the side when Naruto charged again. Growling, the boy formed a couple hand signs. "Shadow clone jutsu!" he shouted and in the next instant, ten other shadow clones appeared at his side. Arya raised an eyebrow at that, it was pretty impressive.

Zen cursed under his breath and went on the defensive. The shadow clones began to vanish in puffs of smoke, and her teammate was so occupied with them that he didn't notice two of the clones standing to the side. They were doing something, a ball of blue forming in the hand of one of the clones.

Had they been in battle, Arya would have warned Zen, but they were sparring, and therefore she couldn't. Just as Zen destroyed the last clone, Naruto charged.

"Rasengan!" he shouted and Arya watched as Zen's eyes widened. A second later, the tree across from where the two had been crashed to the ground.

Naruto did a little happy dance, raising his fist into the air. That was, until he turned around and noticed Zen standing across from him, hands on his knees as he caught his breath. He was tired, but otherwise unharmed.

Naruto's laughter died down as he gapped at the other man.

"But…how?" he sulked, crossing his arms and glaring like a toddler throwing a hissy fit. From where he stood, Enta chuckled, shaking his head.

"Alright, that's enough," said the Sensei, nodding at the two men to sit down. Naruto began to protest, but Enta held up a hand. "You can have another go later, but for now we should give the others a chance."

Grumbling under his breath, Naruto stomped over to where Sakura was sitting and dropped down beside her. The pink-haired Kunoichi laughed at her teammates antics and patted him on the arm reassuringly. Sasuke, who was standing behind the two of them, leaning against a tree, only rolled his eyes.

"So who wants to go next?" asked Enta, rubbing his hands together while looking around at the group. After a moment of silence, Sakura jumped to her feet.

"I'll go Enta-Sensei," she said, her face lit in a passionate glow. Enta nodded at the girl and gave her a smile. "Wonderful. Arya, why don't you spar with her, hmm?" The older man turned to look at his student lazing in the grass and raised an eyebrow. The girl liked to pretend that she was disinterested in everything, and he never did understand why. She was a whole lot different before…well. Before the whole ordeal with Kakashi happened.

"Well?" he asked, crossing his arms, and Arya sighed before slowly ambling to her feet. She had an innate grace in the way she moved, whether she was fighting or just walking from point A to point B. Enta supposed it was the way of the smoke that was such an integral part of her. She flowed, he thought as he watched her approach him, her long limbs moving in a way that reminded him of dancing. Chuckling under his breath he acknowledged, for the umpteenth time, how she seemed to captivate others by barely doing anything at all. She did manage to capture the attention of the infamous copy ninja of the Leaf, didn't she?

Speaking of that ninja, he stepped up next to Enta just then, eyes focused on Sakura.

"Stay on your toes," Kakashi said to her, assuming a stance much like Enta's. Sakura looked at him and nodded before turning back to the dark-haired woman standing before her. She looked…bored, mused Sakura, and the thought of the other woman not thinking of her as good enough competition caused her anger to spike. She wasn't as good as Sasuke or Naruto, but she was far from the doe-eyed, emotional fool that she used to be. She was trained by Lady Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, and she was a powerful Kunoichi in her own right.

She looked over her shoulder to where her teammates were. Naruto was beaming at her, "You can do it! Kick some ass Sakura!" he shouted and she couldn't help the grin that appeared on her face. She then looked at Sasuke who was watching the two of them intently. The smile slowly dropped off her face at the thought of not being able to prove to him that she was good enough. The other woman already intrigued him, and Sakura refused to make her look any better than she already did in Sasuke's eyes.

With a new surge of determination, Sakura turned back to Arya, eyes narrowing in concentration as she shifted into a battle stance.

Arya blinked slowly at the other ninja. She didn't know what was going through her head, but whatever it was, it seemed to give her a very…confident air. No matter, thought Arya as she pulled her long black hair into a ponytail. She sincerely doubted that the girl would put up much of a fight.

"Arya," said her Sensei, and she turned to him, raising an eyebrow in question. "No blood release," he said and she rolled her eyes.

"I know that."

"No dark release either," he said and Arya sighed, putting her hands on her hips.

"Alright."

"And no smoke release."

"You're such a buzz kill."

Enta chuckled at that, eyes twinkling in mirth. "Taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu. That's all. I don't want you relying on your kekkei genkai, it's becoming a bad habit," he said, waggling a finger in her direction. Shaking her head, she turned to the other shinobi.

"Oh and one more thing."

"Oh for the love of Kami," she grumbled and Enta laughed out loud at the look on her face.

"Play nice," he said with a cheeky grin and Arya scoffed, unable to suppress the tiny smirk that appeared on her face. Enta was so annoying. But she loved him like the big brother she never had, so she tolerated it.

"I'm always nice," she said sarcastically, flashing a smile at him.

"Of course you are," he said and then nodded in Sakura's direction. "Don't keep your opponent waiting."

She nodded at him once and then her eyes drifted to the man standing beside her Sensei. He met her eyes briefly, but his face remained deceptively blank.

"Okay!" called Sakura, drawing her gaze away from Kakashi and back to the spar. Before she could orient herself, the girl came charging at her. "HAI-YA!" she shouted, and Arya dodged a fist thrown in her direction. The hand flew past her head, close enough that she actually heard a high pitched whirring sound. She turned her head, long hair whipping behind her, just in time to see Sakura's fist connecting with the earth.

Her eyebrows flew upwards as she watched the ground shake and crumble. Across from the destruction, Arya watched as Zen and Haru jumped in opposite directions to avoid the attack.

"Alright Sakura!" shouted Naruto, and Arya took a split second to analyze and file away the information she'd just learned. Half the reason why Arya was such a terrifying opponent was because she noticed everything. She registered everything. And she used all that information to her advantage.

Monstrous strength, which meant excellent chakra control, she deduced quietly in her head as Sakura turned around and charged at her again. Like the last time, Arya jumped out of the way just before Sakura made contact with a tree, snapping the thick trunk in half.

Perhaps she had written the girl off too soon, she thought as she watched her move. She was strong, yes, but she was slow. And she would use that to her advantage.

Sakura charged again, this time drawing two kunai, infusing them with chakra so they glowed blue. She ducked down and they flew over her head. In her crouched position, she quickly formed a couple hand signs. "Shadow flame jutsu," she said, touching both palms to the ground. Sakura instantly braced to go on the defensive, but…nothing happened.

Frowning, the pink-haired Kunoichi straightened up and looked at her. From across from them, she could hear Naruto laughing loudly, saying something about how her jutsu had failed. At that, she couldn't help a predatory smirk from forming on her face.

Sakura took a small step backwards without realizing it. The look on Arya's face was, well, to be simply put, scary. She looked almost feral. And, she didn't know if it was just her vision, but Sakura could have sworn that the other woman's usually clear grey eyes turned a few shades darker. She was wondering about that when she suddenly heard Naruto gasp and shout her name.

She was in the process of turning when, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the flames coming at her from behind. She dove to the ground, but it still caught her. Sakura instantly rolled to her back, putting out the fire that caught on her clothes.

Arya watched, almost amused, as Sakura rolled to all fours, panting as her big green eyes stared up at her in shock. Across from them, she could see that Naruto was gapping at her while Sasuke watched her silently, eyes calculating. Her own teammates, however, conversed with one another casually, not paying her any attention. This was nothing new to them, and they had long since gotten used to her and her unconventional jutsu.

"Are you alright Sakura?" asked Enta, and Sakura nodded, slowly getting to her feet. "I'm fine," she said as she scrubbed at a bit of dirt on her face.

"What the hell kind of a jutsu was that?!" demanded Naruto, getting to his feet.

"Shadow flame jutsu," said Kakashi and Arya turned to look at him, but he was looking at Naruto. "A jutsu unique to the village hidden in the Shadows. The user makes the attack from one side, seemingly producing no results. The real attack, however, literally sneaks up on you from behind, like a shadow."

Having received his answer, Naruto turned his glare onto her. "What the hell were you thinking?" he shouted and Arya simply crossed her arms, watching him silently. "You could have killed her!"

"That attack wasn't enough to kill her, you idiot," she said calmly. "Even if it had hit her full on, she wouldn't have died. She would have been on fire, which is an easy enough issue to remedy. Believe me. If I wanted to kill her, she'd be dead."

Naruto gapped at her, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water.

"You…you're a monster," he said finally.

A couple things happened at once.

First, Zen and Haru instantly stopped talking and scrambled to their feet, staring between Naruto and Arya. Simultaneously Enta cursed under his breath, and Kakashi's normally impassive face darkened as he glowered at his own student. From the middle of the clearing, Arya clenched her fists, and they began to tremble ever so slightly. Her eyes had darkened to almost black.

"What did you say?" she demanded, but the voice that came from her sounded different. Less human and more…demonic.

Naruto audibly gulped and began backing up. Even Sasuke gave up his uninterested demeanor and straightened up from the tree to stare openly.

"I didn't mean it!" said Naruto instantly, putting his hands up. "I swear, I was only kidding!"

Arya took a step towards him, heart thudding in her chest as the voice roared indignantly in her head. But before she could get far, she was stopped by Enta who appeared in front of her to put his hands firmly on her shoulders. He dipped his head so his mouth was at her ear.

"Come on now Princess," he said, voice light, but eyes hard. "You heard him, he didn't mean it, alright?"

"Yea! I swear! I didn't mean it. I mean, I was only worried about Sakura, I wasn't trying to offend you or-" Naruto's insistent jabbering was cut off by Kakashi who slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Just be quiet," he snapped, looking down at him. Naruto gave his Sensei an apologetic look and Kakashi felt bad for being so harsh. The blonde didn't know that calling Arya a monster wasn't exactly a good idea. But even then, Kakashi couldn't contain the instinctive anger he felt towards him for saying it. Taking a deep breath, Kakashi gave him a little smile, letting him know it was okay.

Or at least he hoped it would be.

Looking over his shoulder, he glanced at where Enta and Arya stood, huddled together as the man spoke to her. She was still glaring at Naruto, but then her eyes shifted up to his. Having seen her like this many times, he calmly looked into her dark eyes and watched as they slowly turned back into their usual slate grey colour.

Finally she sighed and closed her eyes. Enta beamed just then, patting her firmly on the shoulder before stepping away. Arya stood there for a moment longer before finally opening her eyes.

"I'm...really sorry Arya…truly," said Naruto softly and she sighed again, staring at a spot somewhere above his head.

"It's fine," she said curtly, wrapping her arms tightly around herself. She then turned to Sakura, who had been frozen in her place for the duration of the entire ordeal. "I…apologize if I hurt you," said Arya and Enta raised a brow. She wasn't one for apologies.

Sakura shifted her feet and twiddled her thumbs, a blush rising to her cheeks. "No, don't apologize. I'm fine. Naruto is just an idiot," she said, turning to glare at the boy who had the audacity to look sheepish.

"Well," said Enta, clapping his hands together. "Now that the excitement is over, Haru and Sasuke, you two are up."

Arya began to walk to where her teammates were, and as Haru passed by, he touched her shoulder and gave her a smile. She found the energy to smile back at him before sitting by Zen. The brunette dropped down to lounge in the grass next to her. And though he said nothing about what had just happened, he bumped her shoulder playfully, rambling about something neither of them particularly cared about.

As Haru and Sasuke silently took up their positions in the middle of the clearing, Kakashi walked back to stand by Enta. "So it's still happening, huh?" he asked quietly, eyes on the two boys who began to circle one another. Enta gave a very small nod, his eyes also on the spar.

"She'll go months without him making an appearance, and then it'll happen. Certain things trigger it more than others. The meditation I've been teaching her has been helping, but still."

"She needs a stronger seal," said Kakashi, slipping his hands into his pockets as he watched Sasuke activate his Sharingan.

Nodding again, Enta ran a hand through his hair.

"Well it's half the reason we're here."

"When is-" cutting himself off, Kakashi turned to look behind him at the same time Enta turned in the same direction.

"Kotetsu," grinned Enta, greeting the newcomer. The man in question grinned and slapped Enta on the back.

"Enta. It's been a while."

"Sure has," he said nodding at the other man. "So, what brings you to our training session?"

"A message from the Hokage," he said, sticking his hands in his pockets. "I've got a mission for you. Well, actually it's for you Kakashi."

Having heard the word 'mission' Naruto jumped up and dashed over to the trio of Jonin.

"Finally a mission!" he cheered, not noticing the sheepish expression on Kotetsu's face.

"Uh, sorry Naruto, you're not assigned to this one."

The blonde's face fell and he began to sulk.

"But why not? I haven't been on a mission in ages!" he whined and Kakashi patted his head sympathetically.

"I'm going alone I'm guessing?" asked Kakashi and Kotetsu shook his head.

"No, Lady Tsunade asked to see you and someone named Arya, although I don't exactly know who that is. Do you, by any chance?"

Both Kakashi and Enta were visibly surprised at the news. Arya being sent on a mission, just days after getting to the village? And with Kakashi no less. Recovering first, Enta nodded slowly.

"She's one of mine," he said and then looked over his shoulder. "Arya!" A moment later, the Kunoichi in question was at his side.

"You rang?" she asked dryly, raising an eyebrow and Enta grinned.

"You remember Kotetsu, don't you?" he asked her, gesturing at the other man. Arya glanced at him, looking him over, head to toe in a way that made his cheeks take on a faint pink hue.

"I remember," she said with a slight nod of her head. She'd seen the man a bunch of times before, though she was never close with him or anything. She'd mostly just known him because he was one of Kakashi and Enta's friends. He looked the same as he did four years ago, so she didn't really have any trouble placing him. "Hello."

"Still don't remember her?" asked Enta, slightly amused at the way Kotetsu was staring at her. He was a whole lot more amused at the subtle glares Kakashi was giving the poor man.

"No, uh, I remember her. It's nice to see you again, Arya," he said, and she flashed him a quick smile before turning back to Enta.

"You needed me for something?" she asked, and he gestured at Kotetsu.

"The Hokage wants to see you," he said and she frowned slightly.

"Why?"

"Because you're being sent on a mission."

"Oh. Alright, I'll get Haru and Zen." She was about to walk off when Enta tugged on her ponytail to stop her.

"They're not going with you, princess."

"I'm being sent on a solo mission?" she questioned, tugging on the hair Enta still held onto.

"No. I'm going with you."

At his words, Arya's eyes snapped to Kakashi. She stared at him for a long moment before looking back at Enta. "Seriously?" she asked incredulously, and if she'd been looking at him, she'd have seen the way Kakashi bristled slightly.

"Hokage's orders," said her Sensei with a casual shrug. "She requested the two of you."

"Well, can I refuse?" she asked, crossing her arms, and Kotetsu frowned, looking between Kakashi and Arya. Most people didn't know about what conspired between the two of them, but word travelled through the Jonin ranks. And from what he'd heard, he wasn't exactly surprised at her reluctance to work with Kakashi. But Tsunade, despite knowing about the issue, insisted on the two of them for the mission.

"You will not refuse," said Enta, the grin dropping off his face as he regarded his student seriously. "You will go and carry out this mission like any other shinobi in this village."

"Fine," she grumbled, finally succeeding in tugging her hair out of his grasp. "Are we going now?" she asked, turning to Kotetsu who gave her a boyish grin.

"Yes, you just need to go to the Towers to get your instructions. I'm sure Kakashi knows the way," he said, looking at the other man. Nodding, Kakashi turned to Enta.

"Oversee their training while I'm gone?" he asked and Enta nodded. "Alright. We'll see you later." With that, he disappeared in the direction of the village without sparing her a glance. Arya watched his retreating back before looking at Kotetsu who shrugged.

"Right. Well, bye," she muttered and then ran off in the direction Kakashi went, allowing Kotetsu to fall into step with her as they moved through the trees.

"Do you know what this mission is about?" she asked him after a moment of silence. It took the man a couple moments to even realize that she'd asked him something because he was preoccupied with staring at her through the corner of his eyes.

"What? Oh. No, I don't know anything about it. I'm just a messenger."

At that, Arya nodded and kept silent. She didn't know what the mission was about, but it couldn't exactly be great news if she was going to be stuck with Kakashi for the duration of it. Sighing to herself, she saw the village begin to appear in front of them. Whatever it was, she hoped it would be over and done with quickly.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sowwie this took so long, hehe ^_^**

**Leave me a review! Pretty please?**

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Of course the Fifth and Kakashi would have known she was there already, they were highly skilled ninja after all. Letting the door shut behind her, Arya looked between the two other occupants of the room. Kakashi was staring straight forward, eyes locked on something beyond the large windows, arms crossed. Most people would have seen him and thought that he was just bored, but Arya knew him better than that. It seemed to her that he'd been arguing with the Hokage. Turning to the woman in question, she realized that the blonde was giving her a critical look.

"So you're Arya, huh," she said, leaning back in her chair. Arya didn't bother to say anything, opting to nod once instead. Standing next to Kakashi, she returned Tsunade's long look in a silent challenge. Eventually the woman gave a short, barking laugh and Arya was instantly confused.

"You've chosen well," she said to Kakashi who actually scowled. Arya would have laughed at the look on his face, but she was also currently scowling at the older woman. What the heck was that supposed to mean?

"Well, now that you're both here, I can debrief you. Kakashi, you will be taking the lead on this one, a B-rank. You are to escort a painter from here to Suna."

"You need the both of us to escort a painter?" interrupted Arya, a disbelieving look on her face. If she had to be stuck with Kakashi, she at least wanted it to be a good mission. "What bullshit."

It was Tsunade's turn to scowl now as she regarded the young woman.

"Your job is to do what you are told, not to ask stupid questions, understand?"

Arya was getting ready to snap right back, and Kakashi must have anticipated this because he interjected smoothly.

"Who's coming after this guy?" he asked, and Tsunade turned to him.

"Debt collectors," she said simply, steepling her fingers. "Seems that Komodo has quite a few debts he hasn't paid. And so they hired ninja to retrieve him and make him pay. Your job is to safely get him to Suna so he can do some sort of painting for some wealthy family. I asked for the two of you specifically for this mission. Kakashi you are one of our best, and you've fought with the ninja who will be coming after you before."

The man nodded and Arya crossed her arms over her chest.

"If he's so capable, then why do you need me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well for one, half the reason you're here is for you to be going on higher ranked missions. I'm sure there is a lot you can learn from him," she said, an unholy smirk on her face. Arya felt the urge to punch that smirk off her face, but then Enta would throw a fit.

"And secondly, to put it bluntly, you and Kakashi need to get over whatever shit you have between you. I can't have two of the strongest ninja in this village dancing around one another. And yes, you are a powerful ninja Arya, even though you are as sour as a grape sometimes."

Arya scowled, and Kakashi was grateful that his mask hid his smirk.

"I hope that the two of you will hash out whatever misgivings you have between you during this trip. You'll be gone for a couple days, I trust that this will be enough time. You two are adults now, and I expect you to handle this situation as such, understood?"

"Understood," said Kakashi and the two of them turned to her simultaneously. Giving a begrudging sigh, Arya looked heavenward. "Yes, alright, whatever."

"Great," said Tsunade, clapping her hands. "Here's a scroll with all the details you'll need. You will leave at the break of dawn. Dismissed."

Bowing in sync, the Kakashi held the door open for her as they both exited into the hallway. They fell into step easily, though they walked with about a foot of space between the two of them. Once they'd finally stepped out of the building, Kakashi turned to her, hands deep in his pockets, eyes off in the distance.

"We'll meet at the gates at six," he said and Arya smirked.

"Six in 'Kakashi-time' is more like seven," she said before she could stop herself, and his eyes flashed over to her. Their gazes met and locked, and Arya could actually feel the light blush that bloomed on her cheeks.

She watched his eyes as they went from mild surprise to something more…soft. He took a step forward then, a hand moving out of his pocket. "Arya…" he began, but she dropped her gaze to the ground, taking a step backwards.

"I'll be there at six. Be on time."

And with that, she used that kekkei genkai of hers and dispersed into a cloud of black smoke. Kakashi dropped the hand that had been reaching for her and looked off in the direction she'd disappeared.

Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair and began walking back to the training grounds. He didn't even know what he would have said, had she stayed. It wasn't like he had planned something out or anything. He'd just felt this…pressing need to feel close to her again. He didn't know if he meant to do that with physical contact or by talking to her, but it didn't seem like she wanted either.

She didn't seem to want anything to do with him.

And he deserved it, but it hurt nonetheless.

Kicking at a pebble, he stuck his hands back into his pockets as he thought hard about his ex-girlfriend. He hated feeling uncertain. Hated feeling as though the situation wasn't in his control. Hated feeling so torn up inside. And it was funny, because Arya always had a way of bringing those feelings out in him.

Hell, the first time he had ever met her, she had managed to have him feeling all conflicted inside. He thought back to that day all those years ago.

It was the middle of winter, and he had been coming back from a solo mission. He was just about to enter the gates of Konoha when he had heard something. Thinking back on it now, he realized how easy it would have been for him to just keep going and not investigate the noise.

He would have never met her.

His eleven year old self had decided to investigate, however, and he soon came across a peculiar lump in the snow. He'd poked at the lump, only to realize that it was a person. A little girl. Curled up into a tight little ball, fast asleep with her thumb tucked into her mouth.

He remembered thinking that she was so tiny. A frail little thing with more hair on her head than that skinny little neck should have been able to hold. That was the first time that she made him uncertain. He wondered if he should leave her there or take her into the village.

He ended up deciding on the latter of course, and so he had reached down and pulled the sleeping child into his arms and started walking towards the hospital. Despite the freezing weather out, he was surprised to find that she was warm, her cheeks even had a rosy glow to them.

Kakashi remembered vividly how he had looked down upon her, coal black hair whipping in the wind as she subconsciously snuggled into him. In that moment, even he had to begrudgingly admit that she was adorable.

But then he noticed the bruises.

The clouds of purple and blue that marred her otherwise flawless skin. He remembered counting them and feeling a surge of anger as the number climbed above ten. There were old ones and new ones, most of them on her arms and legs. And then he noticed that her clothes were tattered, almost as though she ripped at them.

Or someone else had.

His frown deepened as he noticed the blood on her pants. He didn't even realize he had broken into a run until he was at the doors to the hospital sooner than he'd expected. He ran in and handed her off to a nurse. As he watched her being wheeled away, he knew in the pit of his stomach what had happened to the child.

And it angered him.

Even thinking about it now, years and years later, it still managed to make his blood boil. How anyone could do such a thing to a child was beyond him.

As the doctors worked on the mysterious little girl, Kakashi had paced in the hallway. He could have left, he had training to do, and he told himself that his job was done. And yet he stayed.

He could hear the doctors through the door. Not clearly, but well enough to hear the word _rape. _He was right. And pissed him off. But then he heard the doctor addressing the girl, asking for her name. It didn't seem like she was saying much, because the doctor repeated himself a bunch of times before finally opening the door.

Slightly startled to see Kakashi waiting there, the doctor asked if he knew the girl. Kakashi explained how he found her, and the doctor frowned, glancing back into the room. He asked Kakashi to talk to her, to see if he could get any information from her. He didn't respond to that, instead he stood there silently until the doctor excused himself, saying something about talking to the Hokage.

Kakashi stood outside her room for fifteen minutes before finally deciding to go in.

From the second he walked into the room, two big grey eyes were glued to him. She seemed to recognize him somehow, and it made him uneasy. He went to stand in the corner of the room, far away from the bed, and they watched each other silently for what seemed like an eternity.

'What is your name,' he had said finally, and she blinked up at him before answering in the quietest of whispers.

"Arya."

He had approached her then, coming to stand tentatively at her bedside. He stared at her, or more particularly at her bruises, and frowned again.

"How old are you?" he asked, and his question was again answered in that same soft whisper.

"Five."

His stomach twisted.

"Who did this to you?"

She didn't answer him that time, instead opting to stare down at her lap. He felt himself getting frustrated, but it wasn't like he was going to take it out on a battered and broken little girl. So instead he sighed and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Where are your parents?"

She still remained silent, but her bottom lip trembled, and that knot of anger brewing in the pit of his stomach flared. His fists clenched and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that she flinched and cowered back into the pillow she was propped up against.

Instantly he forced himself to unclench his hands and watched as the girl raised her eyes to his. They were swimming with tears, and Kakashi fidgeted in his spot on the bed. He wasn't good with emotions. He wasn't the nurturing type. All he really knew how to do was fight and train. He wished Rin were there to deal with the little girl. Or even Obito. Anyone but him.

But no one else was there, and she was staring up at him with those big eyes and he was at a loss.

"It's okay," he found himself saying. "You'll be safe here."

Saying that was already so out of character for him. So when he uttered the next few words, he was completely astonished at himself.

"I won't let anything happen to you."

He was berating himself for saying what he did, but then he saw something that completely made him forget his frustration with himself.

She was smiling.

Big and bright, her pearly little teeth shining. 'She has dimples' he remembered thinking to himself. And before he knew it, he was smiling too. It was nowhere near as big as hers, and it was hidden behind his mask, but it was there. And Kakashi wasn't usually one for smiling.

And that was when he knew, with this odd sort of certainty, that this little girl would change his life.

He never could have imagined how much.

Sighing, Kakashi returned his thoughts to the present just as he approached the clearing. He could hear Naruto shouting about something and then Sakura yelling at him to shut up. Stepping into view, he tried to clear his mind, but it was to no avail. And Arya was nowhere in sight.

Enta came to stand beside him silently. His friend took one look at his face and sent him a sympathetic look and a pat on the back.

What was he going to do?

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**Don't forget to leave a review :)**


	6. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the wait, you guys. But I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

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Of course Kakashi was late.

She knew she shouldn't have expected any less from the copy ninja, but it still grated on her nerves to know that he was late despite her telling him not to yesterday. Then again, maybe he was purposely tardy to spite her. She wouldn't put that past him either.

"So tell me sweetheart, are you into older men?"

Arya didn't even bother to hide her scowl as she turned to glower at the short, stout elderly man currently leering at her. It was bad enough that she had to wait around for Kakashi, but now she also had to deal with an annoying old pervert. For the tenth time in fifteen minutes, she felt the urge to rip Komodo's ugly head right off his plump shoulders. But then she thought of how she'd have to deal with the Hokage and about a dozen other people, and so she restrained herself.

Barely.

Kakashi would have to show up soon, or she'd lose all control she had.

And almost as if Kami heard her, she felt the spike of the silver haired man's chakra moments before he appeared across from her. At the look on his face, Arya's scowl deepened. Of course he would have the gall to stand there giving her that stupid sheepish look.

Idiot.

"Hello you two, sorry I'm late. I was, uh, lost on the path of life…heh"

Arya didn't bother to acknowledge the tall man, instead stomping past him and through the gates of Konoha.

"If you try that again, you won't have a life to get lost on," she muttered darkly, mostly to herself. But of course, with Kakashi's excellent hearing, he heard her anyway and she could hear his soft chuckle, poorly masked by a cough.

As she walked down the path ahead of the two men, she stuck her hands deep into her pockets, a move she'd never admit she'd learned from Kakashi himself. She wasn't paying any attention to them, but even then she caught bits and pieces of their conversation. Kakashi was introducing himself to Komodo, who was making idle conversation in turn.

They spent the next couple hours like that. Her silently leading and the two of them following behind keeping up a light repertoire. The sun was now starting to set, and they were looking for a spot to settle down for the night. It was then that the annoying man decided to start asking about her.

"So who's the pretty little lady," she heard him ask, and she didn't have to look at his face to know that it held that disgusting leer. She waited for Kakashi's response, fairly certain that he'd chuckle and answer with some stupid remark. But to her surprise, he didn't say anything for a long moment. When he finally did speak, she was quite surprised.

"I wouldn't get on her bad side if I were you," he said, voice deceptively calm. She'd heard that voice often enough while growing up. It usually didn't mean good news for the person who provoked it.

There was another pause before the short man spoke.

"Ah," he said, sounding like he'd discovered some secret. "She's your little lady, huh?"

Arya couldn't help herself. She whipped around to glare at the short man who was now smirking between the two of them. Kakashi didn't say anything, just stood there watching her, almost as though he was waiting to see her reaction. How…annoying.

"Listen to me you little bastard," she said, voice dropping a few octaves and her eyes beginning to darken. She took a menacing step towards him, and the man had the good sense to actually look a little scared. "I do not belong to anyone but myself. Got it?" Komodo rapidly nodded, babbling apologies. Shooting a look towards Kakashi, she noticed the amusement dancing in his eyes and she glared at him too.

This mission was going to be the death of her.

Spinning on her heel, she stalked across the little clearing they were in, speaking to them over her shoulder. "We'll stay here tonight." Kakashi didn't make any protests, and so she dropped her bag by a tree. With her back still facing them, she lifted her arms a little.

Looking down at her outstretched arms, she watched as they slowly dispersed into a cloud of black smoke, starting at her fingertips and moving upwards. Behind her, she could hear Komodo's exclamation of surprise as her arms disappeared to her elbows.

The smoke flashed away then, sneaking into the forest surrounding them.

"What in the world is she doing," she heard Komodo whisper to Kakashi, but the taller man didn't respond. After a few moments, the smoke came swirling back to her, reforming her arms. She watched the smoke particles join together at the tips of her fingers before sitting down with her back against the tree.

Kakashi was watching her, blank expression on his face.

"I'm assuming we're good?" he asked, also dropping his bag down by a nearby tree. Arya rolled her eyes before closing them and resting her head back on the tree trunk.

"Obviously," she said simply. She heard a rustling and then the sound of a sleeping mat unrolling. She listened to the loud sounds of Komodo hunkering down to the floor.

"What the heck was that?" she heard him ask Kakashi.

"She was checking to make sure the area was safe," he responded idly, sifting through his bag for something. "I'll take first watch," he said, addressing her this time. She would have argued that she'd stay up first, she wasn't tired, but that would too much work. And so she didn't bother to respond, instead crossing her feet at the ankles as she reclined.

They all rested in peace for a few moments before Komodo's crackly voice rang out into the otherwise quiet night.

"Who wants to tell me a bedtime story?" she heard him ask, rustling around on his sleeping mat. She didn't know if Kakashi was going to answer him, perhaps he would have if she didn't interrupt.

Without opening her eyes, she spoke, just loud enough to be heard from across the little clearing where the other two members of her party lay.

"Once upon a time there lived an annoying little man who wouldn't shut the fuck up," she began, her voice flat and emotionless. "He died. The end."

When she heard the sound of Kakashi's laugh drift over to her, she couldn't help but crack open one eye slightly to look over at him. He was sitting much like she was, with his back up against the tree. His arms were crossed over his broad chest, and he was shaking his head slightly, eyes on his lap. Komodo had fallen silent after her 'bedtime story', and so she continued to stare at Kakashi.

Both her eyes had opened at this point, keen gaze drinking in the details of his face. She couldn't see much of it, with his mask and forehead protector covering half of it. But she watched the way his silvery hair fell downward, casting a shadow over his face. She could even see the dark crescents created by his full lashes. She let her eyes drift over the strong curve of his jaw, the point of his chin, the partially obscured length of his neck.

She should have stopped then, really, but she couldn't help herself. Her eyes travelled to the broad shoulders covered by his green vest and navy blue uniform. A light blush lit her cheeks as she recalled the nights she spent clawing at those shoulders. In pleasure. The nights she'd spent with her head resting there as their heartbeats slowed and merged into one steady rhythm. The blush only deepened as her eyes trailed lower, taking in those strong, muscled arms and talented hands.

She felt the heat creeping up the back of her neck, and she shifted in her spot. She was so distracted that it took her a long moment to realize that a single grey eye was trained on her.

She was caught.

And since there was no way to hide it, she tried to swallow her pride and brought her eyes up to his. The smug, self-assured look in his eye should have had her scowling, but…it didn't. Instead, she swallowed thickly as she felt the electricity shoot between them from the distance. Despite her anger and resentment towards the man, she couldn't deny that she was still attracted to him. How could she not? He was hot, and he knew it. But judging by the look in his eyes, perhaps he couldn't deny his physical attraction to her either.

Shifting her gaze, she tried to put those thoughts out of her head. It wouldn't do her any good to be thinking about that sort of thing. To be thinking of him _like that_. Besides, it wasn't like she'd ever act on those desires. Arya was a smart girl, and though her hatred for him was strong, she still acknowledged that old habits die hard. She knew that if she let herself have one part of him, old feelings would come rushing back, and she'd be right where she was all those years ago.

And she swore to herself she'd never do that.

So she let her eyes close and let her mind drift off into the careful blankness that came with the meditation techniques Enta taught her.

And as she slowly fell into a fitful sleep, the silver haired ninja watched her through the night.

._._._._.

"The idiot is lucky I didn't kill him myself," she said under her breath as she and Kakashi flew through the trees. She barely caught the sound of his chuckle over the sound of the wind rushing past her ears.

Their mission had gone pretty smoothly, well, if you looked past the constant sexual harassment she had to deal with from that insufferable old man. On and on about how he would love to paint her. In the nude, naturally. It took every ounce of control she had to keep from breaking his fingers one by one. Kakashi wasn't any help of course. He went back and forth from being casually amused to sending murderous looks back to being casually amused. She chose not to linger too long on the fact that he seemed to be…jealous. She was probably imagining it anyway. Why would he be jealous?

After all, he was the one who left her.

Arya could see the top of the front gates come into view in front of them. She was looking forward to going back to her apartment and taking a shower. She felt grimy after the duration of the mission. Not to mention how gross she felt after having to endure the lewd looks she received from Komodo.

As soon as they were near the gates, they slowed to a walk. They made their way through the gates side by side. As they walked by, the two ninja stationed there perked up. One of them she remembered, he was the one from before, Kotetsu. The other one looked vaguely familiar, but his name didn't come to her.

"Yo," said Kakashi as he slowed slightly, raising a hand in their direction. Arya had no plans on stopping to make conversation, so she continued to walk by. Or well, she would have if Kakashi hadn't called her back. "You remember Kotetsu from before, right? And this is Izumo."

Coming to a stop, Arya turned slightly, looking over her shoulder at the three men. Kotetsu and Izumo were both staring at her, Kakashi was staring at them. Tipping her head slightly, she acknowledged the two ninja. "Hey, I'm Arya," she said, her voice carrying over the distance.

"I remember you," said Izumo, looking her over. "Well, you didn't exactly…look like that, but uh, I remember you." She could make out a slight blush covering his cheeks, and she couldn't help the little smile that appeared on her face. She started to say something, but she was cut off by Kakashi.

"Yea, kinda hard to miss the little kid who was practically glued to _my_ side all the time," he said pointedly. Kotetsu and Izumo immediately dropped their gazes from her, and Arya scowled at the grey-haired ninja. What the hell was that supposed to mean? The way he said it made her seem like some sort of annoying pest or little sibling who wouldn't leave him alone. Kakashi met her eyes then, and when he saw the angry look she sent him, he backtracked.

"Wait, it's not what you think-" he started to say, but she didn't catch the rest of his sentence as she dispersed into a cloud of smoke.

Before he could blink, she was gone, and he was left standing there scowling at the ground.

"Nice going," said Izumo with a little chuckle, and Kakashi turned a hard look onto him, making him go silent instantly.

"Shut up," he grumbled under his breath. He wanted to go after Arya, to explain what he meant by what he said. From the look on her face, she seemed to have thought that he was insulting her, but he really wasn't. He was just getting sick and tired of everyone hitting on her. First that old prune Komodo, and now Kotetsu and Izumo. And she had barely even been in the village long. The thought of all the other ninja seeing her, and the reactions he was sure she'd provoke, made him angry. He shouldn't be, he didn't have that right anymore, but he couldn't help how he felt.

He was jealous.

And while he couldn't do anything to Komodo, he sure as hell could set the leaf ninja straight.

"And stay away from her," he added darkly as he started walking again, prompting both men to nod quickly.

"He always was ridiculously possessive of her," he heard Kotetsu mumble under his breath as he began to walk away. He had to go report to Tsunade about their mission. And then maybe he'd go looking for Arya.

._._._._._.

Turning off the taps, Arya wrapped a towel around herself and wrapped one over her wet hair before stepping out of the shower. She was picking up her discarded clothing off the washroom floor when she sensed another chakra on the other side of the door. She tensed for a split second before she realized whose chakra it was. Relaxing once again, she opened the door and stepped into her bedroom. Sure enough, there was Zen, rooting through her cabinets, probably looking for food.

"Hello gorgeous," he catcalled, and Arya only rolled her eyes in acknowledgement. Zen meant nothing with his 'flirting'. There was a time when he was trying to pursue her, but she made sure to let him know that it wasn't going to happen. And once that got through to him, they became the best of friends. Haru too, but she was especially close to Zen. Which was the only reason why she didn't send him out the window for breaking into her apartment.

"What do you want?" she asked, and despite the harshness of her words, her tone didn't reflect it. Removing the towel wrapped around her hair, she let the long, damp tresses fall down her back. Tossing the towel on a chair, she walked by Zen as he moved to sprawl out on his back on her bed. She didn't mind that her teammate was there when she was walking around in next to nothing. One, it wasn't like he hadn't seen her naked before, and two, she wasn't shy with her body.

"Nice to see you after all this time too," he deadpanned as he shifted his hands behind his head. He was wearing his ninja gear, so she figured that he had either been training or had come back from a mission of his own.

"It's been a couple days. You act like it's been years." Moving back across the little room, she grabbed a bottle of lotion and sat at the edge of her bed, beside Zen's legs.

"Close enough," he said, chucking as he stared up at the ceiling. "So. How was the mission?" It didn't exactly take a genius to figure out that he wasn't talking about the mission itself, but rather how it went with Kakashi.

"It was fine. I had to deal with this disgusting old man hitting on me the entire time, but other than that, it was whatever."

"Talk to Kakashi?"

Arya was silent for a moment, focusing more energy on putting lotion on her legs than the task required. They didn't talk much, but she did meet his eyes a couple times, and they shared these…looks. She didn't know what they meant, but they made her stomach flutter.

But she wasn't going to tell Zen that.

"Not really. Komodo did most of the talking. They kept each other company on the way there, and we were mostly silent on the way back."

"Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again. It's his loss, Ari."

"Of course it's his…"

Before she could finish her sentence, the door to her apartment swung open suddenly to reveal none other than the copy ninja himself. Zen had tensed and sat up, drawing a kunai, but once he saw who it was, he laid back again, completely ignoring the hard look Kakashi was giving him.

After a moment of silence, the older man stepped into her room, closing the door behind him. He met her eyes, and then his gaze dropped to her barely covered body before moving to glare at Zen again.

"You should lock you door," he said tersely, crossing his arms, and Arya raised an eyebrow.

"Why? To prevent random people from walking into my room uninvited?"

She knew he understood the verbal barb she threw at him, but he didn't react to it. Instead he focused on the dark haired man in her bed.

"Leave."

Bristling inwardly, Arya set aside the bottle of lotion to get to her feet, walking over to stand right in front of him. She caught his eye dip down to her towel-clad body for a split second before he brought them back up to her face.

"He's not the one who's unwelcome," she snapped, giving him a hard look, one that he returned with that blank expression of his. It always did aggravate her to no end when he got all cool and calm like that. It made her feel like such a child to snap at him only to receive that patient, almost lazy look of his. It always managed to fire her up even more.

"Nah, it's fine." Looking over her shoulder, she glared at Zen who had just ambled to his feet. "He looks like he's got something to say. I'll catch you later, princess." And with a wink and a cheeky grin, he jumped out her open window.

Arya scowled at the spot where he disappeared for a moment before turning back to Kakashi. It was then that she realized how close they were. And how…undressed she was. It wasn't like he hadn't seen her like this hundreds of dozens of times before. It wasn't even like he hadn't seen her with nothing on either. But that was precisely _why_ she was starting to feel uneasy.

The last time she and Kakashi were in the same room, alone, they were together. And she was certain that it led to other…activities that required little to no clothing. And now that she was thinking of that, she couldn't help the faint tinge of pink that appeared on her cheeks. Kakashi, being who he was, didn't miss a thing, and he connected the dots instantly. And she just _knew_ that he was smirking behind that mask of his.

Almost like he knew what she was thinking just then, which he probably did, he reached up to tug his mask down past his chin so that it bunched around his neck. She couldn't help but look at his lips, and instantly her blush deepened.

Turning around, she made a beeline for her drawer, using getting dressed as an excuse to look away from the handsome man in her room. She grabbed the first shirt she saw and shut the drawer. It was black, as most of her wardrobe was. Keeping her back to him, she pulled the shirt over her head and let it fall to mid thigh. She then dropped her towel from underneath, kicking it up to her bed.

She looked over at him then, watched him as he watched her. He had removed his forehead protector, she could see it sitting on the table beside him, and so when he looked at her, he watched with one regular eye and one bright red, Sharingan eye. He gave her a once over, and this time when he smirked, she could see it.

"What?" she snapped, feeling on edge as she crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Nice t-shirt," he said simply, and she frowned before looking down at herself.

"Oh fuck me," she grumbled under her breath when she realized what she was wearing. In her preoccupation, she didn't pay much attention to what shirt she was wearing. She had so many black shirts that she just assumed it was one of them, but upon closer inspection, she realized that it wasn't just any old shirt.

It was his.

It was his shirt. One that he probably left at her place years ago and she decided to take for herself. He didn't care back then, he always did like watching her walk around in his clothes. But that was when they were dating. It wasn't okay now. She was so busy chastising herself for her stupidity that she almost didn't hear Kakashi when he said something.

Almost.

"Excuse me?" she demanded, her eyes snapping to his. Did he just say…?

"I said, 'it'd be my pleasure'."

She would have asked him what she meant, but he knew she wasn't an idiot. He'd know she knew exactly what he was talking about. And damn her fair complexion, but the red was riding high on her cheeks. Before she could think of something to say, she found herself backed up against the wall. With narrowed eyes, she glared up at Kakashi. He wasn't touching her, but he was hovering over her close enough that she could practically feel the heat radiating off his body.

She wanted to shove him away and demand that he leave, but her pride stopped her. She wasn't that same sixteen year old girl who was powerless against him and his charms anymore. But as she watched the tomoe swirl in his left eye, she felt her heart rate pick up, and she wondered just how immune to him she really was.

"What the fuck do you want?" she demanded angrily, but her voice came out soft, almost husky.

"Are you dating him?" he asked, and for a moment, she was genuinely confused.

"What?"

"That kid. Zen. Your teammate.," he elaborated patiently. "Are you dating him?"

For a moment she considered lying to him and telling him that she was. Just to spite him. But then she realized that it would only cause unnecessary complications, and it would just be too much work. So instead she scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"No. I'm not. But I don't think that's any of your goddamn-"

She would have finished her sentence.

She had every intention of doing so.

But it was at that moment that Kakashi decided to lean in and kiss her.

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**Don't forget to leave me a review. **


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: I mention Obito and Rin in this chapter. There's a lot of speculation about the ages of Kakashi and his teammates. Some say they're the same age, some say Kakashi was four years younger than Obito and Rin. Either way, I've been trying to look it up and there has been no solid evidence for either claim. So for the sake of this story, they're all the same age.**

**Also, this chapter is mainly to give you a little insight on Arya and Kakashi's past, so there isn't much plot development. Even so, this is the longest chapter I've written so far, and I hope you enjoy it. Please excuse any mistakes, it's three in the morning, lol.**

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It took a long moment for Arya to even register that Kakashi's warm lips were _actually_ pressed up against hers. That she wasn't just imagining it, that it was really happening.

He was kissing her.

And once that detail had finally registered, she had a choice to make; either to push him off or kiss him back. And as his lips gently coaxed hers, she cursed inwardly and squeezed her eyes shut. Oh, who was she kidding? She didn't have much of a choice at all.

Four years of convincing herself that she was over Kakashi Hatake's charms flew out the window as she leaned into the kiss, returning it despite the protesting voice in her head. She was only human after all, though she didn't act like it sometimes. And though she'd much rather be apathetic about everything and feel absolutely nothing, she couldn't help it.

She couldn't help feeling something after all that time.

Reaching up, she softly drifted her fingertips over the curve of his jaw. At her obvious acceptance of the affection, Kakashi closed the distance between their bodies, wrapping his arms around her.

As he deepened the kiss, she couldn't help but think that it still felt the same. That they still felt the same. That she still felt that familiar tingle up her spine whenever he touched her. And that realization caused a sudden pang in her chest. That pang was enough for her to ease back. Kakashi didn't try to press her, instead he simply rested his forehead against hers, arms still wrapped securely around her.

Keeping her eyes closed, she let her hands drop to rest on his broad chest. She could feel his eyes on her face just as well as she could feel his thumbs rubbing gently at her lower back. She should really push him off or move away or tell him to fuck off, but instead she stood there in silence.

With a quiet sigh, he pulled her in closer so they were embracing with her head resting on his shoulder. His head dipped down so his lips brushed her ear. The gentle movement was enough to send goosebumps racing up her spine. She knew that coming back to Konoha would mean that she'd encounter Kakashi, but she didn't quite see this coming. And definitely not this soon after her return.

"Arya…" he started gently. She could tell that he had more to say, but she felt his body tense suddenly. Raising her head from his shoulder, she looked up at him for a second before looking over her shoulder at the spot where the older man was glaring. When she saw the smirking ninja perched on her windowsill, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"It's nice to see that the two of you didn't kill one another on that mission," said Enta before landing soundlessly on her floor. Arya sputtered for a moment, unable to say anything, before shoving Kakashi away from her and stalking across the room. With her back to the two Jonin, she didn't see the hard look Enta gave Kakashi.

"What do you want?" she heard Kakashi ask as Arya took a drink from the water bottle resting on the counter. She stubbornly stayed as far from the pair as she could in her tiny apartment as she waited for Enta's response.

"Just delivering a message," said her sensei, and she looked over her shoulder at him then. "Lady Hokage wants to see you, Kakashi."

The silver haired ninja was silent for a moment, regarding his friend coolly. He spared Arya a glance then, and the message in his eyes was clear. _We're not done here_.

She didn't bother to give him a response, simply shifting her gaze to Enta instead. From the corner of her eyes, she watched Kakashi shrug lightly before sticking his hands into his pockets. His image blurred for a second and then he was gone from her room, the forehead protector on her counter gone with him.

In the moments that followed, the two ninja stood in relative silence, and it was beginning to piss Arya off. Moving to her bed, she dropped down onto it, glaring at the ceiling.

"Is there something else you needed?" she snapped, well aware that she was starting to sound like a petulant child.

"Nope, just came to deliver that message."

"And yet you're still standing there, looking at me like that."

"Like what?" he asked innocently, and she could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Forget it," she muttered, crossing her arms. They lapsed into silence again, but eventually Enta sighed.

"Well, I'm supposed to be present at the meeting with the Hokage myself, so I should be off. We're training in the morning. Eight am, sharp."

"Who's we?" she asked just as Enta climbed onto her windowsill again. He looked back at her, his eyes twinkling in a way that didn't bode well for her.

"Our squad…And Kakashi's. As well as a couple others, perhaps."

Arya didn't bother to contain the deepening of the scowl on her face. Rising to brace herself on her elbows, she gave her Sensei a hard look. "Why can't we just train alone?" she demanded. "These people are annoying."

And all at once the playful twinkle left Enta's eyes as he gave her a stern look. "We left our village for a reason Arya. The whole point of being here is to expand our horizons, learn new things and so on. Training alone all the time would defeat that purpose, don't you think?"

"Yea, yea, yea," she mumbled under her breath, rolling her eyes again.

"I'll see you tomorrow," said Enta, and before she could reply, he was gone.

Left on her own, Arya sighed heavily before rolling over onto her stomach. Nuzzling into her pillow, she tried very hard not to think about Kakashi and that kiss or what it could have meant. But alas, it seemed that her self-control was taking a day off.

Though thinking about the kiss gave her a warm, fluttery sort of feeling, it also made her heart clench. Gnawing on her bottom lip, she did something she rarely allowed herself to do.

She thought about their past.

He was just a kid himself when he had saved her. In a time when she was betrayed by the very people who were supposed to protect her, he, a complete stranger, took her under his wing. Of course he was quite reluctant to do so at first, trying to foist her off on anyone else because he had better things to do, like train.

Though he was only eleven at the time, he acted more like an adult, a very serious one. All he did was train and go on missions and train some more. She couldn't blame him, not then and not now, for not wanting to play babysitter to a wounded little bird such as herself. But for some reason, she had latched onto him, refusing to talk to or interact with anyone else. And for some reason, he kept coming back to check up on her, though he kept up that apathetic persona of his.

As time went on, and she was released from the hospital and into the foster care of one of the nurses, he came to see her more and more often. Pretty soon they'd developed a sort of a routine. He'd come to pick her up at the house she was staying at in the morning, and she'd spend the rest of the day shadowing him. She'd sit in on training sessions, private ones and those with his team, and when he ran errands around the village, she was right there running along behind him. Of course having her tag along everywhere meant that he couldn't move at ninja speed like he could have if he were alone, but even then, he moved at a reasonable pace, making it easier for her to keep up.

In a matter of months, they were together more often than not. In fact, the only instances where they were separated for long periods of time were when he had to go away on missions. She really hated those times. But he'd come see her as soon as he came back.

Almost a year later, Kakashi had put in a request to the Hokage to have her moved into the apartment next to his. He would have requested she move into his own, but the ninja apartments were designed to fit only one occupant at a time. His reasoning, as he told the Hokage, was that it was a waste of his time to have to travel to Arya's temporary residence to pick her up and drop her off, especially since she rarely spent any time there anyway. The Third had his doubts, of course. Kakashi had just turned twelve at the time, well on his way to achieving all sorts of great things. The Hokage didn't know if it would be a good idea to put a six year old in the hands of the promising young ninja, simply because he had other things to focus on.

But for reasons she didn't quite understand even now, Kakashi was insistent, and eventually the Hokage agreed to the request. Arya had suspected that he was lonely. He didn't seem to have parents, and he wasn't really the social type. Of course he interacted with his teammates and colleagues, but it just wasn't the same as joking around with close friends. Then again, Kakashi wasn't the type to be overtly enthusiastic about anything.

Since she followed Kakashi around day in and day out, she slowly began to open up to the people who surrounded him. Rin, Obito, Minato, Guy, Asuma, Enta. They were just a few of the people she'd come to interact with on the daily. They thought she was an adorable little thing. Naturally.

Rin would coo over her, pinch her cheeks, and insist on braiding up her long dark hair. She'd often chastise Kakashi playfully for not helping Arya with such tasks, but she stepped in to compensate for it without a complaint. The guys mostly just goofed around with her, since Kakashi wasn't inclined to that sort of thing himself.

It was almost a year and a half after they first met that Kakashi encountered her kekkei genkai. Well, one of them.

The young ninja had been summoned to see the Hokage, for a mission debriefing if she remembered correctly. And where he went, she was sure to follow. The Hokage, being aware of this, usually let her loiter in some of the other part of the tower, under supervision, while she waited for Kakashi. But on that particular day, the weather was nice enough that she insisted on sitting on a bench outside to watch the butterflies.

Kakashi didn't protest, he rarely did when it came to what she wanted. Rin once told her that it was because he, for some reason, had developed a soft spot for her. Regardless, the young boy had nodded and wordlessly disappeared into the building. A couple moments later she was giggling and running after a butterfly when she ran headlong into something.

Well that something turned out to be a someone. A trio of someone's to be exact, and they didn't seem too happy to see her. Three girls, all with Konoha forehead protectors glared disdainfully at her. They looked to be around Kakashi's age, perhaps former classmates of his.

Jealousy wasn't exactly something Arya was acquainted with at the age of six. In fact, there were lots of mannerisms and social graces she wasn't aware of as a kid. Her parents were to blame for that, the way they treated and raised her, simply because they didn't think she'd live long enough to have a need for any of those things.

She had her first run in with jealousy that day. She wasn't aware at the time, but Kakashi was considered to be very…desirable in the village. Though he didn't seem to acknowledge it, he had quite a few admirers. Of course, at the time, Kakashi had no interest in pursuing anyone. This was made clear by the indifference he treated his 'fangirls' with. The only girls he really interacted with were Rin and Arya.

With Rin, the girls were jealous, but they could brush it off as him only being around her because they were teammates. With Arya it was different. Kakashi had no reason to be around her. He had no reason to devote his time to her or to allow her to follow him around all day, not to mention the fact that she was living with him too. And because of that, unbeknownst to her at the time, she had garnered the hatred of quite a few girls in the village. It didn't seem to matter to them that she was literally just a child and had no romantic interest in him at that point. They hated her all the same.

It was a fact made clear to her when the three girls began to harass her. They made snide remarks, commenting on how much of a runt she was (her growth spurt didn't come until much later), about how eerily pale her eyes were, about her missing teeth, about how she was some lowly cast-away who didn't deserve to be around Kakashi.

Their words hurt, but at the tender age of six, Arya unfortunately already knew all too well how to internalize her pain and take it silently. She simply stood there, her too-long black hair whipping around her in the breeze. Her lack of a reaction must have angered the girls because they became physical.

One girl reached out to jab her with a long finger, just under her collarbone. She did it hard enough to leave a bruise and make her take a step back. They laughed about how weak she was, and the leader of the group made to shove her onto the ground. The girl reached out, intent on placing her hands on Arya's tiny shoulders to push her down.

Except her hands never made contact with her shoulders.

Arya watched the girls' eyes widen as her hands went _through_ her shoulders. The momentum of the action caused her body to continue careening forward without the resistance of another body to stop the motion. The girl continued to fall straight through Arya, a cloud of black smoke drifting around them as she finally hit the ground in a startled heap of limbs. When the smoke cleared, Arya's body was in one solid piece, the three girls around her were gapping, and Kakashi was standing by her side.

At the sight of him, Arya gave him a dimpled smile, completely unaware of the gravity of what had just transpired. Kakashi was watching her intently, a hint of surprise in his eyes. It wasn't until one of the girls spoke that he looked away from her.

"Y-you freak," stuttered one girl as the other helped the one on the ground get to her feet. Arya frowned, not knowing what she had done to receive such a comment. Kakashi stepped partially in front of her then, and she reached out to clutch at his pant leg.

"You will not bother her again," he had stated, and thought he didn't say it, the '_or else_' was evident in his voice. Wordlessly, the trio of girls scrambled away. After a moment, Kakashi turned, looking down at her. She had glanced up at him, a little pout on her face before staring off in the direction the girls were running off in.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked softly, her little hand still clutching at Kakashi's pant leg. He watched her silently for a long moment.

"No."

After the one word response, he had reached down to grab the hand she had clasping his clothing and used it to swing her onto his back. As soon as he had her settled piggyback style, he took off into the forest at ninja speed. He didn't do it often, he wasn't exactly one for prolonged physical contact, but she secretly loved it. She loved going fast. Feeling like the world had melted away into a blur of nothingness. She wished she could do it herself, but she had never asked him to teach her how. She learned from her parents to never ask for anything.

So she had wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her chin on his shoulder as her hair whipped out behind them and the trees blurred into one constant haze of green.

"Where are we going?" she had asked with childish curiosity, and a moment later they came to an abrupt stop that made her head spin. Kakashi set her down on her feet, keeping a hand on her shoulder until the dizziness passed, after which he stuck his hands in his pockets and walked towards the building they were standing outside of.

Arya had paused, looking around at kids running around, adults in green flak jackets shouting things at them.

"Arya."

At the sound of her voice, she returned her attention to Kakashi to see that he was at the entrance already. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she ran towards him just as he continued to walk into the building.

"What is this place? Why are we here? Did the Kage man tell you to come here?"

In her preoccupation with her questioning, she failed to notice that Kakashi had come to a stop. She slammed into his still form, and would have toppled to the floor if he hadn't reached down to grab her wrist.

"No, the _Hokage_ did not send me here," he said with the kind of patience no twelve year old should be able to possess.

"So why are we here?" she asked as he tugged her through a doorway.

"You're going to be enrolled into the Academy."

Subconsciously, Arya smiled at the memory. The thought of a twelve year old boy enrolling his six year old ward in the Academy like a parent would their child was pretty amusing. Of course, at the time, she hadn't found it too fun at all. Unfortunately for her, the Academy year had just begun, so she wasn't so late that she'd have to wait for the following year to enroll. Though Kakashi was her guardian, since he was under age, it was Minato who signed her application forms, with the Third's blessing. Kakashi's Sensei had thought it was a good idea for her to join the Academy too. He'd remarked a couple of times, after watching her play with Kakashi's friends, that she had something about her. Perhaps it was her agility or her sharp eye, but he thought that she'd make a wonderful shinobi.

Arya wanted none of it though.

Not because she didn't think being a ninja wasn't cool, but because it meant that she was put in a room full of kids she didn't know, forced to do things she didn't know anything about, and most of all, it meant that she wouldn't be with Kakashi all the time.

Her first day at the Academy was a pitiful sight indeed. Thinking back on it now could make her blush in horror and embarrassment at the way she acted.

Kakashi dropped her off at the school in the morning, or at least he tried to. She had latched onto his leg and refused to let go. Of course he was more than strong enough to forcefully pry her off, but that would have meant hurting her. And perhaps he didn't want her to leave so bad either, or so she hoped. Eventually a couple Sensei from the Academy had to come and haul her off, fighting all the way. After being thrown over someone's shoulder, she watched tearfully as Kakashi's figure began to get smaller and smaller as she was escorted away from him.

Class that day was a complete horror.

Parts of her body kept disappearing in puffs of black smoke, since she hadn't quite gotten the hang of controlling her unique kekkei genkai, effectively terrifying some of the kids. And then there were her other kekkei genkai. All day, students and Sensei who made the mistake of approaching her ended up with spontaneous nosebleeds or inabilities to activate or control chakra in certain parts of their bodies.

Kids were crying, the classroom was in an uproar. The Sensei couldn't stop his nosebleed and control the class at the same time, so he had to call reinforcements.

Utter chaos.

Eventually someone had the bright idea to summon Kakashi to come calm her down. He was either close by or ran at super speed, because he was there in a flash. He walked into the chaotic classroom as calm as ever, as though nothing was amiss. Hands in his pockets, he slowly made his way through frantic student to seat himself next to a teary little Arya. She had sniffled and looked up at him, one tiny fist rubbing at her eye. And just like that, nosebleeds stopped, chakra points were restored and her previously missing left foot reformed itself.

Her Sensei had Kakashi take her home after all that, and Arya had truly thought that it would be the last time she'd see that Academy. But she should have known better. Kakashi marched her ass straight back to the Academy the next morning, much to the horror of the students in her class. She'd inadvertently caused another scene, and Kakashi had to come pick her up again.

And he brought her back the next day.

At the time, everyone thought Kakashi was crazy for doing so, and she did too, but it wasn't until she was older that she understood why he did it.

He was teaching her how to not be so attached to him that it'd cause a meltdown every time she was away from him. He was teaching her to open up to people she didn't know. He was teaching her to step out of her comfort zone. To make her stronger. Because he too saw something promising in her. Perhaps that was why he 'took her in' in the first place.

And over time, she did get better. She could go to class and not terrify her classmates and Sensei. She still caused the occasional nosebleed here and there, but the more she became engrossed in her studies, the better she got at controlling herself and reigning in her abilities. All her Sensei were astounded at her complete change in attitude. With her natural affinity and by training with Kakashi after school, she became top of all her classes.

No one would have guessed that the orphaned little runt who had been tossed carelessly at the gates of the Hidden Leaf would have graduated in just a year, top of her class too.

Kakashi, Rin, Obito, Enta, Asuma, Guy and even Minato all came to witness her graduation ceremony. They all cheered for her, well, Kakashi didn't do so as boisterously as the others, but she could sense the hint of pride in his eyes as he watched her graduate with kids much older and with more experience than her.

It was one of the happiest moments of her life.

A couple of months later, Kakashi, then thirteen, was promoted to Jonin. Everything seemed to be going great. At seven years old, Arya was happier than she had ever remembered being in all her young life.

But then it all came crashing back down again.

The third shinobi war was upon them. Kakashi and his team were always away doing their part as Konoha ninja. Her own team was stationed within the village, something she resented very much. She wanted to be with Kakashi. To fight alongside him and all her friends. Despite having a squad of her own, she was still closer to Kakashi's rookie group. They were all off carrying out important missions while she was stuck running errands and helping the villagers.

There was one time where she had snuck away from her assigned duty to attempt to tail Kakashi, who had been sent out on a short, solo scouting mission. Though she graduated in only a year and at the top of her class, she should have known better than to think she could sneak past Kakashi. Even in her full body smoke conversion technique, he had caught her just outside the Konoha gates.

He was not amused.

At all.

He called out to her, telling her to reform. The second she did, he had her pinned to a tree, lecturing her about how reckless she was. And then in the middle of that stern lecture, he suddenly tossed her to the ground just as two kunai thudded into the tree where her face had been moments ago.

Iwa ninja.

Kakashi had snapped at her to take cover, telling her that he'd handle it. There were only a couple of them, probably scouts. He definitely could have handled it himself. But of course, Arya had a bad habit of not listening to orders. She could still picture the horrified look on Kakashi's face as she lunged at the much older shinobi. He'd started to go after her, probably to knock her out and then deal with the ninja before hauling her ass back to the village to lock her up for the rest of the war. But when she took down the first two ninja within a couple moments with her smoke possession technique, he had paused. She then reformed her previously missing arms and took out the final ninja before promptly passing out from exertion.

She had woken up in the hospital a couple hours later. Chakra exhaustion, apparently, was something she hadn't thought about when she had rushed out after Kakashi. The young ninja was there when she woke, staring at her through narrowed eyes as the rising sun filtered in through the window. She could only give him a sheepish little smile, hoping her dimples would lessen the blow that was sure to come.

But he didn't chastise her. He wasn't happy with her, but he wasn't exactly mad either. He lectured her on the importance of following the rules, but he followed it up with praising her quick mastery of her most prominent kekkei genkai. Rin and Obito came to see her a little while later, and Kakashi had to threaten to bodily toss Obito out the window a couple hours later when the pair refused to leave. Apparently the three of them, along with Minato, had an important mission in a couple hours. It would be the first mission Kakashi led as a Jonin. Ninja protocol prevented them from giving her any details, but she was excited for them nonetheless.

Finally, they filed out of her room. First Rin with a kiss to her forehead, followed by Obito who gave her a wide grin as he ruffled her hair. Kakashi had left last, with a nod and a little pat on the top of her head.

That was the last time she saw Obito.

Sighing, Arya rolled to her side as she stared blankly at the wall. Things sort of spiraled out of control after that. Obito's death hit Kakashi hard. Well, it hit everyone hard, but him especially. He put all the blame for the incident on his own shoulders, though no one else did so. It was then that Arya had noticed that he was slowly withdrawing into himself. He'd always been a stoic hard-ass, but this was different.

And then Rin was kidnapped.

And then she died.

At Kakashi's hand.

Arya didn't think things could get much worse after Obito's death, but clearly she was wrong. Rin's death only added to Kakashi's grief. He blamed himself for everything. She saw a lot less of him after the deaths of his teammates. He had completely stopped interacting with his other classmates at this point. The only person he saw was her, and even that was sparse.

Everyone knew something was wrong with Kakashi, but no one knew what to do about it. He was hurting, and so naturally, she was too. Not only was she hurting for the loss of Obito and Rin, but she was hurting for him. For Kakashi. She hated seeing him so withdrawn and obviously upset, despite outwardly seeming more apathetic than ever.

She wanted to help, but she had no experience dealing with something like that. And so she just tried to act like her usual self. She'd badger him with questions, attempt to cook for him even though she just ended up burning things, show him the new technique she learned. And though he never told her to stop or leave him alone, she could see that he wasn't his usual self.

There was one night that he came to her room. She couldn't sleep, so she'd been up. When her door opened, she tensed for a moment before relaxing when she noticed Kakashi's chakra. Dressed in his bedclothes, he had stumbled into her room looking haggard and older than his thirteen years.

When he took two steps forward before crumbling to the floor, she wasted no time in jumping out of bed and hurrying to him. She hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do, but then she remembered the way Rin had once embraced her after she'd managed to slice her leg with her shuriken. She remembered the comfort and safety she had felt in the arms of the older girl. Without another moment's hesitation, Arya had reached out to wrap her little arms around Kakashi's shoulders. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he had pulled her into his lap and held her while his entire body shook like a leaf.

Trying to channel Rin, she had rubbed his back, squeezing him as tight as she could.

"It's okay, 'Kashi," she remembered her soft seven year old voice saying, using the nicknamed she'd given him when they first met. "I'm here."

They didn't talk about that incident after that night. He never brought it up, and neither did she. Minato became Hokage soon after and had Kakashi enlisted into the ANBU Black Ops.

He became cold. Ruthless. Hard. She didn't like it, but it seemed to help him cope. At the very least, it helped him excel at his new job. He rose in rank pretty fast. He was a force to be reckoned with. But even then, some of the villagers decided to paint him in a bad light. 'Friend Killer Kakashi' they had called him. Even now, the title made her blood boil. He didn't kill Rin on purpose. It was an accident. He didn't mean to.

There was that time when Kakashi had a rare day off, only because Minato ordered him to do so, and they were in the market. She had overheard some of the villagers whispering as they walked around. She was doing a pretty good job of controlling herself, until some man mentioned 'friend killer'. She sort of lost it then. Her eyes went completely black and pupil-less, her entire demeanor changing. Black mist seemed to appear from nowhere and swirled around her.

She had lunged at the terrified villager, but Kakashi caught her and held her back. But of course, she didn't need to physically touch someone to hurt them. As various onlookers watched, the man's nose began to bleed, followed by his mouth and then his ears. He had dropped to his knees, screaming in agony. She could faintly hear Kakashi telling her to stop, but she couldn't seem to help it. It was like she was being possessed.

"Say it again," she had taunted in a voice that was much too deep to belong to a seven year old girl. That pathetic old man probably would have bled to death if Kakashi hadn't knocked her out.

Safe to say that no one dared to badmouth Kakashi when she was within earshot ever again.

The following years were…tense. Kakashi continued to be ruthless, and Arya pushed herself to become stronger. She figured that she needed to be strong to protect Kakashi. Of course it was a stupid thought in hindsight. Kakashi was feared by many, he didn't need protecting, especially from a little girl. But still, she felt this urge to protect him. To return the favor.

It was also during this time that they had found out a lot about her and her…abilities. There became lots of things about her that only Kakashi, the Hokage, and select ANBU members knew. As a result, Kakashi seemed to warm back up to her some.

When he wasn't away on ANBU business, he was with her. They usually trained together, but sometimes they'd just lie in the grass and watch the clouds. They became quite the duo. Kakashi was, well, Kakashi, and she was quickly becoming one of the most powerful Kunoichi in not only Konoha, but across the Fire nation.

She didn't know when it happened. When the platonic feelings between them had changed into…something else. Kakashi was hell-bent on ignoring whatever it was that was going on between them, but with each passing day, Arya was finding it harder and harder to do so. She knew she was in love with him at twelve. But he was eighteen, six years her senior. And while she was a whole lot more mature than most others her age, she was still just a kid. Technically at least. She was sure that he still saw her as a kid sister or something. So she watched Kakashi become more and more handsome as he grew into a man, and she noticed how the girls in not only her own village but others as well also began to take notice of him.

And it pissed her off.

With the way she'd darken ominously around any of his fangirls, it wasn't a surprise that the entire village knew she had a crush on her childhood savior. Everyone but him of course. He remained stubbornly oblivious to her feelings.

She was fourteen when she decided that it'd be a good idea to eavesdrop on a conversation between Kakashi, Enta and Asuma. It was Enta who brought her up, making a joke about her crush on him. He then asked the silver haired ninja how he felt about her. She had held her breath, waiting for Kakashi's response. There was a slight pause before she heard his monotonous voice.

Even now, the words he spoke were engrained into her memory.

"Don't be stupid," he had said. "She's just a kid who latched onto me because I saved her. Why would I like her?"

She had been crushed.

Her feet faltered on the branch she was on, and she saw Kakashi tense for a split second before a kunai was sent sailing her way. She'd jumped out of the way before it could hit her, of course, but tears were gathering in her eyes, making it harder to see. If he threw something again, she probably wouldn't see it. Deciding to make her exit, she ran, just barely catching Kakashi's firm 'who's there?' in the wind.

She went home and cried her heart out. A part of her always knew that this would happen, but to actually hear it? It was devastating. She knew he'd be leaving for a mission that night, and she was grateful that she wouldn't have to see him for a couple days.

Unfortunately for her, Kakashi being Kakashi, he finished the mission early and was back in the village sooner than he was supposed to be. She avoided him like the plague, which was hard to do considering that they were neighbors. But she just couldn't face him. She couldn't face the fact that she was in love with someone who thought of her as a little brat. She may have been physically strong, but she wasn't emotionally strong enough to deal with that.

It seemed that luck was on her side. Between her missions and his and strategic planning on her part, it'd been almost a month since she last saw him.

Her luck ran out one night thought.

She was at one of the training grounds in the middle of the night, knowing that Kakashi would be home that particular night. She was vigorously hurling shuriken at various targets placed around her. It helped relieve some of her pent up frustration to hear the steady _thwack_ of metal against wood as she hit the bulls-eye time and time again.

She had worked up a sweat, panting with exertion. The constant grueling training she had been putting herself through was catching up to her. And it was because she was so exhausted and caught up in her training that she didn't sense Kakashi approaching until it was too late. She heard a sound and she had spun around, intent on hurling a shuriken at whatever it was.

But the weapon never left her fingers.

Instead, she looked down at the piece of metal still in her grasp. Or rather, she looked at the larger hand that covered her own. Cursing herself, she looked up into Kakashi's blank, mismatched eyes and uncovered face.

"You've been avoiding me," he had stated simply.

Tugging sharply, she released herself from the older man's grasp before she turned to retrieve her weapons from the targets. "I don't know what you're talking about," she responded just as coolly. She reached to pull out another shuriken and found herself slammed up against a tree. She must've really been tired to not have seen that coming, and Kakashi must've noticed. Whatever he was going to say died on his lips as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"You're exhausted," he had stated after a moment. "Your chakra is nearly drained. Haven't you been taking care of yourself? You clearly still need someone to take care of you."

That was the wrong thing to say, because her exhaustion turning into fury. Her eyes darkened a couple shades, and she had shoved him away from her. He looked on in surprise as angry tears filled her eyes.

"Shut up!" she all but growled at him. "Shut up. I'm not some little kid that needs to be taken care of!"

Kakashi didn't say anything. He just kept watching her with those mismatched eyes as she visibly became more and more distressed.

"I apologize for having _burdened_ you all these years. I apologize for having _'latched onto you'_," she continued patronizingly.

"So it was you hiding in the trees that day," he had said after a moment, but Arya continued as if she hadn't heard him.

"But you know what? It's fine. You don't have to bother anymore. Regardless of what you may think of me Kakashi, I am _not_ a child and I don't need you or anyone else to take care of me. So let's just drop the shit. You can go on and live your life and do your thing, I don't care. I'm not your concern anymore."

The tears were spilling down her cheeks at that point. She was miserable, and her heart hurt, and she really should have stopped talking, but she couldn't help herself. Kakashi was silent, clearly having nothing to say to her. So with one final strangled sob, she turned away, intending to leave. Instead she found herself in Kakashi's arms, her teary face pressed into his chest.

"Arya," he mumbled against her hair as she stiffened in surprise. "I know you're capable of taking care of yourself, and I shouldn't have suggested otherwise. It's just…"

He hesitated then, and Arya simply waited, relaxing a little. Kakashi wasn't exactly the type to have a heart to heart, especially not after he joined the ANBU. So instead of pressing him, she gave him time to gather his thoughts.

"I haven't spoken to you in a month. And I think it's probably been the longest time we've gone without talking in…a long while. I haven't even seen you. I've caught little glimpses of you here and there around the village before you seem to vanish. I've even sensed traces of your chakra at certain places. But I haven't actually _seen_ you. I haven't spoken to you. And it…I just…I don't know why it bothers me…"

Heart thundering in her chest, she had to force herself not to jump to any conclusions as she waited for him to continue.

"That day in the clearing. With Asuma and Enta…I…didn't exactly mean what I said. Or well, I didn't mean what I implied."

Arya had to clear her throat twice before she could speak.

"Wh-what do you mean?" she had asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She waited for him to answer, but after a couple long moments of silence, she tried to move her head back to look up at him. Before she could move however, he raised a hand to the nape of her neck to keep her head where it was. Attempting to ignore the tingling of her skin where he touched her, she fell silent again.

After what seemed like an eternity, Kakashi sighed.

"When Obito and Rin…died, I really and truly lost all sense of myself. Everything I thought I knew about being a great ninja, it all just seemed to fade away. I couldn't even protect my own teammates, so what kind of ninja was I? What was the point in being the youngest shinobi to graduate at the Academy and become a Jonin if I couldn't protect the people I cared about?"

Frowning, Arya brought up her arms to wrap them around Kakashi's waist. She figured he brought Rin and Obito up for a reason, but she didn't know what that reason was just yet.

"You know, for a little while there, I even considered…doing what my father did."

Stifling a gasp, Arya tightened her arms around Kakashi, feeling him return the squeeze instantly. She knew about his father, and the thought of him ever wanting to do such a thing, the thought of him ceasing to exist…it was just too much to bear.

"But I didn't. And I made it past my lowest point. And I can honestly say that it was all because of you. Arya…if you hadn't been around, I can't honestly say what would have happened to me. You gave me hope. You gave me a reason to keep going. And I know that I've been a little distant at times, but I swear, you were always in my thoughts."

"I don't really know when it happened. When I stopped thinking of you as the cute little kid who'd follow me around and trip over her own feet chasing butterflies and started thinking of you as…something else. As the beautiful girl who pisses me off because she gets hit on by every damn ninja this side of Fire country. And I really shouldn't feel…this. You're fourteen. I'm twenty. And while I know that you're far from being a kid, I'm still six years older than you…"

To be completely honest, she was hardly listening to what he was saying at that point. She was still caught up in that confession, or well, as close to a confession as she was going to get. He…liked her. He liked her! Enough to get jealous when other guys hit on her too.

Her heart was soaring.

"Are you even listening to me?" he demanded suddenly, pulling back to look down at her. She caught the light teasing in his voice, and she bit her lip as she blushed.

"Um, well, yes. I just heard you admit that you like me," she had said, a cheeky grin appearing on her face. Kakashi attempted a stern look, but eventually gave up and rolled his eyes.

"Did you hear the rest of what I said? I shouldn't feel this way. It isn't right."

It was Arya's turn to roll her eyes.

"It isn't right according to what? The Kakashi Rulebook? Seriously, for such a badass ninja, you can really be such a buzz kill sometimes Kashi."

"Excuse me?" he had sputtered in indignation, and Arya almost laughed.

"Seriously. You're always about the rules and what's right and what's wrong. Everything in your world is either black or white, there's no colour. Doesn't that get boring?"

Narrowing his eyes, he leaned down slightly so their foreheads nearly brushed. "I'm a ninja. I follow the rules, that's just how it is. That doesn't mean I don't…'see colour' as you put it."

Scoffing, Arya tilted her head to the side. "Please. You're such a stick in the mud. You never take chances when it counts. You're always by the book. Live a little. You're more than just a shinobi you know."

"I'd consider shinobi duties as 'living'. Besides, my inclination to be 'by the book' has nothing to do with my hesitation to act on my feelings for someone six years my junior," he responded wryly, causing her to grin and tilt her head up so that their faces were scant inches apart.

"Think of it this way. I could go out on a mission tomorrow and die."

His eyes had darkened at that, his Sharingan spinning wildly. "Don't say things like that," he had snapped, his arms reflexively tightening around her. Smiling gently, she raised a hand to touch his cheek.

"Just hear me out. I'm a shinobi, just like you. And I go out on missions facing the very real possibility that I'll never come back. And the same applies to you. You, with the way you've been working yourself these past few years, face being put in life and death situations time and time again. And though I'm so ridiculously happy that you are still alive, you could have been killed. I could have been killed. Do you really think six years is that big of a deal if one of us was gone forever?"

He fell silent then, eyes closing as he rested his forehead on hers. Finally he sighed.

"You talk too much."

"Yea. But I make a good point."

"…"

"So."

"So?"

The beginnings of a smile were already tugging on her lips as he opened his eyes to look down at her. Cast in the light of the moon, he seemed more ethereally handsome than he usually was. She knew, beyond doubt, that she had won. She knew it. Now she just had to wait for him to realize it.

"Soooooo." she repeated, batting her eyelashes innocently at him. He huffed again, but she could detect a slight curving of his lips.

"You really do talk to much," he had mumbled before dipping his head and capturing her lips with his own.

Her heart was racing, she realized, as she flipped over onto her back to stare up at the ceiling. The sun was beginning to set, and she wondered just how long she had spent reminiscing about her past. How troublesome. Damn him for kissing her and reminding her of all that.

Damn him for being a _fabulous_ kisser.

And damn him for looking so damn good all the fucking time.

Urg.

With a growl she covered her face with a pillow and willed herself to sleep. Just as she was about to drift off though, she remembered that she'd have to see Kakashi's stupid, handsome face in the morning. As if seeing that stupid, handsome face during her mission wasn't bad enough. She was going to have to have a nice long chat with Enta about finding other teams for them to practice with.

When she finally did drift off into a fitful sleep, she dreamed of his stupid, handsome face.

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**A/N; PLEASE READ**

**Yes, I realize that she was fourteen and he was twenty and it's technically not legal in many places and yadda yadda. I also know that I mentioned in previous chapters that they've been intimate while she was under the age of eighteen. I get that it's a sensitive topic to some, and if it's something you can't handle, perhaps this story isn't for you. I can promise that you won't be reading any underage sex scenes or anything else that's explicit, but their age gap is important. And so I do hope you stay with this story. But hey, if it's something you can't tolerate, then I understand. **

**Also, in her flashback, I didn't mention Naruto's birth or the nine-tails attack. Technically, since Arya and Naruto are only about two or three years apart, she should have been just a toddler when the attack happened whereas Kakashi would have been a teenager. But, as I said before, the ages were skewed for the purposes of the story, and so let's just assume there was a weird timeskip or something with that story arc. Hopefully that makes sense. **

**If you have any questions or comments, please, please leave me a review. I'd love to hear what you think!**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: As I understand, Kage means 'shadow' in Japanese (note that I am NOT Japanese, and therefore if I am wrong, please feel free to correct me). So, following with the naming of the other hidden villages, the village hidden in the shadows would then technically be 'Kagegakure' or simply referred to as 'Kage'. So if you see 'Kage' around this chapter or henceforth, just know that I'm not referring to the village leaders, but rather to Arya's village.**

* * *

Why Konoha ninja thought it'd be a good idea to train in large groups, she'd never know. They were divided into three man squads for a reason. Arya didn't like the group training style that reminded her of her Academy days. Back to when the entire class would have to run around the school training grounds and do exercises on a large scale. She preferred being assigned to her team, though admittedly, she enjoyed her squad from the hidden shadows more than she had enjoyed her old squad from the hidden leaf. The point was that she found the smaller groups to be more practical and more efficient. Which made it all the more aggravating that the Leaf ninja didn't see that.

At present, Arya was laying in the grass as far away from the annoying, boisterous Leaf ninja as she could while still remaining on the training grounds. Arms behind her head, she idly watched the clouds floating by. Now and again she'd pick up bits and pieces of the conversation Zen and Haru were having beside her. She could have tolerated that, she sometimes found her teammates voices comforting anyway, but what she could not deal with was the hooting and hollering of that blasted blonde man-child.

The space between the two groups did nothing to dampen the volume with which the kid was yelling. The saddest part was that she was pretty sure that was his regular, talking volume.

Yea, she was definitely going to have words with Enta about all this.

Speaking of her sensei, he had yet to show up. Of course that wasn't exactly unheard of, but both Kakashi and Kurenai were also missing. She knew Kakashi well enough to know that he, like Enta, wasn't the punctual type, but she was pretty sure Kurenai was different.

Turning her head to the side, she glanced at the six shinobi sitting across from them. There were Kakashi's students; Sasuke, Sakura, and of course Naruto. And then there were Kurenai's students. Arya didn't get a chance to talk to any of them, nor did she plan to, but she overheard their names being shouted here and there. Shino, who seemed to hide himself in his clothing even in the blistering summer heat, Kiba, a shaggy haired loudmouth with his ninken Akamaru, and finally the kunoichi. Hinata.

Now, she didn't know the girl personally, again, she didn't care to, but at a glance, she seemed to be everything Arya disliked in a woman. Feeble looking, meek, flustered. Weak. Just looking at her made Arya's anger mount. She was aware that it was unfair, that her anger was unwarranted because that girl could have been strong in her own right. But there was just something about gentle, defenseless women that she detested.

But Arya wasn't stupid. She had a pretty good idea where that dislike came from.

Her mother had been one of those women. Weak, powerless, feeble. She couldn't defend herself, much less a child, but that was no excuse not to try. It was no excuse not to attempt to do something. To attempt to help. But instead, her fragile mother had done absolutely nothing. In fact, she did worse than nothing. She let it happen. She let him…she let those men-

"Hey, you alright?"

Snapping out of her daze, Arya turned her head to blink up at Zen and Haru who were now leaning over her, cutting into her line of vision. It was then that she noticed that she was all tensed up, muscles pulled taunt. Forcing herself to relax, she coolly raised an eyebrow at her teammates.

"Of course I am," she stated simply, attempting to look past their faces to the clouds. She noticed they exchanged a look before sitting back, removing themselves from her view.

"If you say so," said Zen, stretching out to recline beside her. "Your eyes were getting darker, and you were glaring at that girl pretty hard. They noticed."

At that, Arya blinked, and turned her head back to the group to see that they were indeed looking in their direction. Hinata looked like she was ready to pass out, red as a tomato, and Naruto was giving her a look full of righteous indignation. Internally rolling her eyes, she turned her face back to the clouds.

"I'm fine," she repeated, her tone leaving no room for further discussion on the matter. But of course, Zen being Zen, he would just switch into a different topic without missing a beat.

"So…how did thinks go with Kakashi?"

"Unless you want to be bleeding out of all your orifices, I suggest you don't bring him up."

Most people would have kept their mouths shut at that point, but her team seemed to have a death wish.

"That good, huh?" teased Haru, and she would have taken them both out if it hadn't been for Naruto's exuberant shout that the older shinobi were there. The three shadow ninja got to their feet just as Enta motioned them over to join the larger group. Kurenai was saying something to her squad, idly patting Akamaru on the head and Kakashi…well Kakashi was looking at her. She met his gaze for a fleeting second before looking pointedly at Enta.

The events of the day before were still fresh in her memory, and it didn't help that she spent the rest of that day reminiscing about their past. No, thoughts like that weren't going to do her any good. And neither were thoughts of that kiss. She'd do well to just forget about it all.

Coming to stand in front of her sensei, she fixed him with a hard look, one he returned with a big grin. But there was something else behind that grin. Arya frowned slightly at that. Something about that smile seemed ever so slightly forced. And now that she thought about it, the glance Kakashi had given her as she approached them also seemed…different somehow. Of course she could have just been reading it wrong, but Arya was confident in her abilities. She knew something was up. Perhaps it had something to do with the meeting both Kakashi and Enta had with Lady Tsunade the day before.

Before she could wonder about it any more, Enta slapped her on the back, drawing her closer to him. When her scowl deepened, he chuckled lightly.

"You're too young and too pretty to be pulling that kind of a face Arya. You should smile more. Like Sakura over there."

Upon hearing the compliment, the girl in question turned almost as pink as her hair.

"I hope you sleep with one eye open," Arya muttered under her breath.

"I have been since the day I met you," Enta replied instantly, and she couldn't help the tiny smirk that appeared on her face.

Kakashi cleared his throat then, capturing the attention of the little group.

"Alright everyone. Nice to see that you're all on time-"

"Yea, too bad we can't say the same for you guys," grumbled Sakura, prompting Naruto to voice his agreement. Kurenai, for her part, apologized while the two men just gave everyone guilty smiles. Typical.

"Ahem. Well, moving along," he continued. "Today we are going to practice our sensory skills. However, instead of practicing them yourselves, you will all be using ninken. Now, I understand that you are all chunin and this seems like quite a basic exercise, but after a mission a couple weeks ago, it became clear that not everyone knows how to effectively work with a ninja hound."

At that, Naruto gave a sheepish laugh and scratched his head, looking anywhere but at Sakura who didn't look too happy about the ordeal. Clearing his throat again, Kakashi continued.

"So. The exercise today will test your abilities to utilize and work with ninja hounds. We've gone ahead and hidden things out in the forest. You all being chunin, we couldn't make it too easy for you. The scents will not be detectable by the human nose, unless of course you're Kiba. Hinata, you are forbidden from using your Byakugan for this exercise, just as using your bugs is forbidden Shino. Arya."

Having only been half listening to his spiel, Arya was startled when she heard him say her name. Looking up from the spot on the ground she was previously staring at, she glanced impassively at Kakashi, noticing that everyone's eyes were now on her.

"Your smoke technique is forbidden too," he said, his visible eye lingering on her for a heartbeat, even after she'd given him a quick nod. Turning away from her, he was about to say more when he was interrupted.

"But Kakashi sensei!" cried Naruto, waving his hand in the air. "How are we all supposed to do the exercise when we only have one ninja hound?"

"Well if you'd let me finish, I'd have gotten to that."

"Hehe…oops-ow Sakura!"

"Shut up and listen Naruto!"

Arya rolled her eyes as Naruto rubbed the growing lump on his head, courtesy of his teammate. Were they always that…loud? Shifting her eyes, she looked at the third member of their team, Sasuke, who stood there looking much like she was feeling. Poor guy.

"Anyway, as I was going to say, since Kiba has Akamaru, he is already good to go. As for the rest of you, you'll each get one of my summons." Saying so, Kakashi bit his thumb before making the necessary seals and placing his hand to the ground. A puff of smoke appeared, and when it wafted away, they were left with eight ninken.

Arya looked at the group, and raised her eyebrows in visible surprise. Images of much smaller and younger dogs flitted through her head, and before she could even think to connect the dots, she was flat on her back with eight ninja hounds jumping all over her.

"Little girl," said the smallest of the bunch as he seated himself on her chest, muscling his way through the other dogs vying for her attention. "Well. You don't look so little anymore. You've gotten big. Long time no see, huh?"

"Pakkun," she gasped, for some reason finding it hard to breathe. "You look exactly like you did back then."

"Bull! You can't sit on her like that, you big oaf. You'll suffocate her." A couple moments later, she felt a weight shift off her and she sent Pakkun a grateful look. Gently moving Pakkun back, Arya sat up, the dogs crowding all around her as she changed positions. Coarse tongues lapped at her face and arms as the smaller of the dogs tried to climb on her.

And she couldn't help it, she laughed, head tossed back and eyes sparkling as she tried to pet everyone all at once. Had she been paying attention to those around her, she would have caught the almost mesmerized look on Kakashi's face. He'd forgotten, for a moment, that his ninken were very well acquainted with Arya. He used to leave them behind with her when he had to go away on missions, or he'd summon them for her to play with while he was training. The dogs were just puppies at the time, but he should have known that ninken don't forget. But there was something else that he'd forgotten.

Over the span of four years, Kakashi had forgot, or likely had forced himself to forget, exactly how beautiful she was when she laughed unbidden like she was just then. Like the carefree little girl she used to be. Before he went and fucked it all up.

Arya however, was unaware of the turbulent emotions churning within Kakashi because she was still engrossed with her reunion with her old companions. She remembered, vividly now, of how she played with the ninja hounds as a young child and as she grew up. Although, they were much smaller back then, especially in the case of the large black bulldog.

"Bull!" she cooed, yes, _cooed_. She'd be appalled at her lack of composure later, she was just…too happy at that moment to care about how unlike herself she was being. Reaching out, she grasped his large head between her hands. "Look how big you've grown. I used to be able to carry you around in my arms, and now it looks like you could carry me." Bull, being the only one of the lot who couldn't speak, simply nuzzled into her hands happily, prompting her to grin.

"And Shiba, look at you. I like the hair." The hound in question was above slobbering happily like some of the others, but still, she could see how he preened at the compliment, tail wagging contentedly.

"And me?! What about me?"

Laughing, Arya watched Biscuit jump up and down in front of her. Reaching out, she scratched behind his ear, the smile never straying from her face. "Yes, yes, you too Biscuit. You're still as loud as ever though."

"Um…what's going on? And…Kakashi sensei? Why are your ninken all over Arya?"

It was at the sound of Naruto's voice that she was roused from her ninja hound-induced stupor. And all at once she realized exactly how stupid she must've looked, sitting on the floor, cuddling and cooing over the hounds. Clearing her throat, she got to her feet, Pakkun clinging to her shoulder. Reaching up, she took the small dog into her hands, trying to resist the urge to snuggle his familiar warmth against her. The other hounds settled at her feet. There was a moment of chaos when Bull accidently stepped on Guruko in his attempt to sit right up against Arya's leg, but a stern look was all it took to have them sitting silently.

"Good luck trying to sort out who gets to be partnered with her," said Enta under his breath, and Kakashi rubbed his forehead.

"Me, obviously," said Pakkun from her arms, having overheard Enta. Now that sure did get the ninken all worked up again. And Arya was too busy struggling to seem nonchalant in front of the audience to actually do something about the angry ninja hounds. It was Kakashi who finally decided that he'd had enough. Stepping forward, he raised his hand, waiting for everyone to fall silent, which they did. Eventually.

"Akino will be paired with Arya for this exercise." Biscuit started to protest loudly, but Kakashi shut him up with a stern look. "I've already gone through and came up with pairings beforehand, so this is non negotiable. You can all continue your reunion later, but right now we're trying to run an important exercise. Is everyone clear?"

Slowly, the hounds all nodded, albeit solemnly, but they knew when to shut up and take orders. Seemingly satisfied, Kakashi's eye ghosted over her once more before he turned away and addressed the group as a whole. He went ahead and announced the rest of the pairings. Reluctantly, the dogs left her side one by one to go and stand by their assigned ninja. Bull gave a heavy sigh as he hunkered down by Haru's feet, and Pakkun wasn't too happy about being paired with Sakura. Then again, the pink haired Kunoichi didn't seem to be too happy about being paired with him either.

Once they were all assembled into their two man squads, Kakashi gave them the go ahead to begin the exercise. Akino took a moment to clear his mind as he sat in the same spot even after the other pairs had gone off into the forest. Arya didn't say anything however, and simply stood by him, pointedly ignoring the feel of three pairs of eyes on her.

Kakashi, Enta and Kurenai stood at the edge of the training grounds. Being the last pair still there, Arya figured they were just waiting for her to also leave. But even then, something unsettled her about the way they watched her silently. Thankfully, Akino decided that he was ready to go just then, and he was off. Swiftly, she jumped into the trees after him, glad to leave behind the odd trio.

The leaves became a blur around her as they raced through the forest. She could sense a couple others in their general area, but they were all slowly fanning out into opposite directions. When she heard Naruto's surprised shout in the distance, followed by an explosion, Arya confirmed that the sensei had in fact placed traps around the forest too.

"So," said Akino after a long while of silence. Arya was slightly surprised to have him speak to her, not because he'd never done it before, but because he was usually a dog of very few words. Raising a brow curiously, she watched him from the corner of her eye as another explosion sounded somewhere else in the forest. "I see things are…tense between you and Kakashi."

Arya nearly broke her steady rhythm as she played back what the hound had just said to her. Of course all the ninken knew that she and Kakashi had been together, platonically and romantically, and they also knew that things broke off abruptly. But it was quite the shock to have the current situation between them brought up, especially by Akino. It took her a moment to answer, and she busied herself with somersaulting over a trip wire to avoid saying anything. But Akino was a very patient soul, and he simply waited, the silence growing between them. Finally, she sighed.

"Well what did you expect?" she said irritably. "Did you hope we'd be best friends or something?"

"I hoped he'd have thrown himself at your feet and begged for forgiveness."

Arya couldn't help but scoff at that. They both knew Kakashi was way above groveling for forgiveness. Everything he did, he did for a reason, even if it was one only justifiable to himself. She didn't foresee any groveling any time soon.

They continued in silence again, Akino changing direction slightly at one point. A sharp gust of wind hit them then, strongly scented and meant to throw the hounds off. Thinking quickly, Arya grabbed Akino and jumped high over the cover of the trees and out of the range of the simulated gust of wind. They landed some ways away, and her actions preserved their assigned scent enough that he picked it right back up instantly.

"He's missed you," said the hound solemnly as he sat by her side a little while later. Arya was using a kunai to dig into the soft patch of earth he had led her to. She paused in her actions for a moment, her breath catching in her throat. But as fast as it came, it was gone, and she resumed her actions, seemingly unshaken by his statement. Arya didn't respond to him, and the trip back was a silent one.

They laded in the clearing together, prompting the trio of Jonin to look up at her. Standing by them were Sasuke and Uhei who seemed to have just arrived there themselves. Stepping towards the group, she held up a bandana with the faint scent that they were meant to trace. Instead of handing it to Kakashi, she tossed it to Enta before walking past them. She had intended to go off and stand at the opposite end of the training grounds, but at the last moment she veered off towards Sasuke and Uhei instead.

The dark haired man reminded her of herself. There was just something in his eyes. Not weakness, but something dark and haunting. She recognized it, because she spent twenty years looking at it in the mirror. And just like her, Sasuke seemed to have adapted a cool, nonchalant, persona to go with it. She couldn't help but think that Kakashi had been the same way once, though he seemed to be more relaxed now than when he was a teenager.

As she walked up, Uhei greeted her by coming to sit in front of her, tail wagging. She reached down to scratch him behind the ears as a tiny smile curved her lips.

"You seem to be well acquainted with them."

Looking up, she silently raised an eyebrow at Sasuke. He seemed to catch himself then, shifting his gaze off into the distance, jaw clenched. He didn't press, which was the only reason she decided to answer him.

"Yea. I grew up around them," she offered simply with a shrug of her shoulders just as Zen, Haru and Sakura appeared in the clearing one after the other.

"You grew up around Kakashi's ninken," he said slowly, and Arya dropped to a crouch as the newly arrived hounds ran over to surround her. Again, he didn't press anything, but she could hear the piqued curiosity in his voice. The unasked questions. She figured his pride would prevent him from asking those questions outright like Naruto would have. As the three other ninja joined their little huddle, Arya reasoned with herself that Haru and Zen already knew her story anyway. What did it matter if Sasuke and Sakura knew too? Besides, they'd probably find out at some point, and Arya had convinced herself that the more she tried to hide it, the more significance she attached to it. And the last thing she wanted to do was seem like she cared about it enough to keep it from everyone.

"I grew up in Konoha," she said absently as she rubbed Bull's flank.

"You what?!" came an unnecessarily loud voice behind her, and she didn't need to turn around to see that Naruto had joined them too. Arya pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to restrain herself from hitting the blonde over the head. Lucky for her, Sakura didn't seem to have any restraint at all, and pretty soon Naruto was sitting in the grass with a pout and a huge lump on his head.

"I grew up in Konoha," she repeated, allowing Biscuit to jump into her lap. Perhaps it was the dogs that had her willing to share. It was hard, even for her, to be in a grouchy mood when they were present. "I wasn't born here though. I'm from a little village near the Fire country boarder. I came here to Konoha when I was five, and I left for Kagegakure when I was sixteen."

"Wait…if you're from here, how come we've never run into one another?" asked Sakura, brows furrowed. Behind them, she could sense that the other three shinobi from Kurenai's squad were back. She could also feel Kakashi's eyes on her. It was unsettling, but she told herself to ignore it.

"Well I graduated from the academy before you guys even joined. I was only there for a year, so, either way, you wouldn't have run into me there."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, a silent acknowledgement of her accelerated graduation. Sakura and Naruto were both also enthralled, although they were much more obvious about it. The two of them kneeled by her, seeming to hang on every word she uttered.

"Why didn't we see you around the village then?" asked the man with the shaggy hair, Kiba. She spared him a glance before fixating on Biscuit and Pakkun wrestling for a spot on her lap.

"We probably didn't run in the same circles," she said curtly, hoping that they wouldn't ask exactly whom her circle was comprised of. But of course Naruto did ask, and she sighed.

"They were a couple years older than me. Enta, Asuma, Guy, Obito, Rin." She realized a little too late that she had left Kakashi out of that list. It was too late to mention him now, so she simply waited. If they had at least half a brain, they'd figure out that Kakashi fit into that group of shinobi.

"So that's how you know Kakashi-Sensei?" asked Naruto, and she could all but feel Kakashi still from across the clearing. "You guys were friends?"

Arya hated that she had to pause. She desperately wanted to run her hands through her hair, but she didn't allow herself that nervous gesture. Instead, she schooled her face to look carefully blank as she got to her feet.

"Something like that," she said, neither accepting nor denying Naruto's claim. She could tell that the blonde was going to fire another question at her, but thankfully Kurenai unknowingly came to her aid.

"Alright guys, you did well," she said, addressing the group as a whole. She then fixed her own students with a glance. "We've got a mission in a couple hours, so we're going to go prepare. We'll see you all later."

Arya met the older woman's peculiar red eyes for a moment. She had never been as close to Kurenai as she was with Rin, a fact that was proven when the older woman didn't even recognize her when she first came back to Konoha. Even then, she could only remember good things about the genjutsu specialist. That thought was followed by a gentle smile from her before she disappeared into the forest. The members of her squad called their farewells before also running off after her. And then it was just her own team and Naruto's.

"Alright, you guys can go," she heard Kakashi say somewhere behind her, and the ninken began to grumble. Smiling despite herself, she leaned down to give everyone a final cuddle. "I'll see you guys later," she said softly as she kissed the tip of Bull's nose.

"You'd better," said Pakkun before he disappeared in a puff of smoke, the others going after him. Once they were all gone, Arya couldn't deny that she instantly missed their presence. That in itself was quite troubling. She didn't realize just how profound an effect her old companions had on her. Then again, she mused as she turned to face Kakashi and Enta as they walked towards them, she should have known better.

She wasn't as impervious as she pretended to be.

Kakashi came to stand across from her. It was an innocent enough action. She was standing near the front of the group, and it was almost natural for him to stand there as he addressed them all. But even then, her heart seemed to constrict, and her mind wandered back to that kiss…Oh she was in trouble. She should have never come back to Konoha. It was the biggest mistake she could have made.

Caught up in her own vices, Arya didn't feel the new presence until a beat after Kakashi and Enta did. That one second of difference was enough for both men to go on the defensive, turning their backs to the group to face the far end of the training grounds. At that point, the others had also sensed an ominous presence and everyone shifted uneasily. It was Sasuke, however, who seemed the most visibly affected by it all. From the corner of her eye, she could see the dark haired young man stiffen before taking a jerky step forward only to be stopped by Kakashi who lifted a hand in warning. Sasuke froze, but his usually stoic face began to show a myriad of emotion. Surprise, anger, conviction, perhaps even sadness. Arya was wondering why he'd have such a reaction to the new comer when she realized that she too recognized the chakra signature approaching them.

In front of them, Kakashi and Enta stiffened. She didn't realize it before, but they had shifted their bodies so that, together, they shielded her completely from the view of the other person. It both annoyed and confused her.

As the person stepped into plain sight, she heard Sakura gasp, her hand reaching towards Sasuke who seemed to be trembling in anger. Naruto seemed pretty pissed off himself as he stood by his teammates, fists clenched. Haru and Zen seemed to be as lost as she was, but they too had noticed the way the older Jonin shifted to cover her. Knowing that two talented shinobi found it necessary to guard their teammate was enough to have the two younger men also taking up a protective stance on either side of her.

Arya hated feeling like she was weak. That meant that she hated it when other people took it upon themselves to try and protect her or shield her from danger. It made her feel powerless, and she absolutely hated that feeling.

And so, in her customary rebellious style, Arya dispersed herself into a black cloud of smoke before sliding past the two Jonin and reforming herself in front of them. Now behind her, she heard Kakashi curse under his breath and snap at her to get back. Enta too had lost all traces of humor, a rare feat, and demanded that she fall back to her previous position.

It confused her. Why were they so…worried? What was she missing? Did this have anything to do with why they were acting weird that morning?

Her questions went unvoiced and unanswered however, as the new comer came to a stop a couple feet in front of her. The face was a familiar one. One she'd seen multiple times back when she was in Kage. She wasn't surprised to see him exactly, she was just surprised to see him _there._ In Konoha. She was also intrigued at the reaction he was provoking from Kakashi and Enta by just being there. The fact that he didn't come in his true form, but rather as a clone, only confused her that much more.

And if there was something Arya hated more than feeling weak, it was feeling like she was missing something.

Crossing her arms, she took a step forward and heard Enta snap her name. But she didn't bother to look over at him. Instead, she stared into Sharingan-red eyes.

"Itachi. What are you doing here?"

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**Annnnd the plot thickens, lol. **

**Leave me a review! Tell me what you think. **


	9. Chapter 8

An eerie silence fell over the group.

At the same time, the wind picked up, rustling the long blades of grass and the leaves overhead. Arya couldn't help the chill that ran up her spine as she fought the urge to turn around and gauge the reactions of the people standing behind her. Instead she continued to train her eyes on Itachi, watching the tomoe spin in his Sharingan.

She was sixteen the very first time Itachi appeared before her. In fact, their first meeting occurred just a couple weeks after she and Enta relocated to Kage. She was still reeling from her break up with Kakashi, and so she spent a lot of her time alone in the caves or in the forest surrounding the village hidden in the Shadows. It was on one of those occasions, when she was thoughtlessly pummeling the side of one of the deeper caves, that she felt a sudden presence with her.

Just as she whirled around, a deep voice carried out to her, echoing gently.

"You could collapse the cave doing that," he had said, slowly stepping towards her. Clouded with anger and hurt, she wasn't in the mood to converse with anyone, so she had simply turned her back on the strange man and continued to slam her fist into the solid wall of the cave, colourful bruises appearing on her knuckles. His chakra signature had disappeared soon after, and she looked over her shoulder to see that she was alone again.

She'd seen him a couple times after that, though the instances had been sparse and far apart. He only came to her when she was alone, and he never said much, assuming he said anything at all. In the beginning she used to think he was just some random villager who was stalking her, but there was just something about him that told her he was definitely not a civilian. But if he was a shinobi, where was his forehead protector? Why had she never seen him around the village? Kagegakure was relatively small. After being there for a couple months, she knew practically every face. But his was not one that she caught often.

It was then that she figured that there was more to the tall, silent man with the red eyes and black hair. Sometimes, when he stood across from her, silently sizing her up, she'd get this odd feeling that she'd seen him before. Back in Konoha. No clear memories of him popped up in her head, so he wasn't someone she would have interacted with on a daily basis, but she could have sworn that she'd seen a younger version of this man around Konoha when she was a kid. She asked him about it once.

And woke up on the floor of a cave hours later, dazed and disoriented.

She didn't know what happened. Perhaps she'd passed out. But the odd thing was that she didn't recall feeling lightheaded or unwell. She hadn't been doing anything that would have justified a fainting spell. And so she began to suspect that it was the man who had done something.

In hindsight, she probably should have gone to Enta then. Or at the very least told Zen or Haru. But, a couple months into the formation of their new team, Arya was still feeling leery about opening up. She wasn't comfortable with them yet, and she knew she wouldn't be for a while. And so she kept the peculiar man a secret, purposely going to train alone to see if he'd show up.

The next time he did, she demanded a name.

"Itachi," he had said in that same voice, flat and devoid of emotion.

"Why do you keep coming to see me? Who are you? What do you want?"

The questions she asked had gone unanswered however, as he fell silent, studying her through tired looking eyes. She must've been in a particularly bad mood, because she had lunged at him, fed up with the whole ordeal. It was always a bad idea to throw yourself recklessly into a battle when you didn't know your opponents' strengths and weaknesses. But Arya wasn't thinking about that, she just wanted to punch something. To Itachi's credit, he only raised an eyebrow before sidestepping to avoid the punch she threw at him. She kept throwing punches and kicks, sticking to taijutsu, but he only evaded her as opposed to engaging her. Which only made her angrier.

"What's wrong? Are you scared—"

She'd barely even gotten the words out of her mouth before she found herself pinned to a tree, his long fingers around her neck. She went completely still, eyes widening slightly as she stared up into his ruby red ones. She didn't even see him move. One minute he was standing across from her, and the next he was right up against her. Goosebumps rose on her flesh as his fingers flexed on the pale column of her neck. Though she didn't know much about him, she knew then that Itachi was bad news.

After her momentary paralysis, she allowed her neck and head to disperse into smoke. Missing from above the shoulders, she simply stepped aside and outside of Itachi's reach before she reformed herself. She sensed a slight, _very_ slight, flicker of interest in his eyes then. But it was gone before she could blink. After a long moment of silence, he disappeared.

She didn't see him again for almost two years.

In fact, she was beginning to think it was all just a series of bad dreams or hallucinations.

She had been sent on a solo mission one day, aged eighteen. It was something simple enough; delivering a message to the Daimyo. Arya had thought it was a waste of time considering that they could have just sent a hawk or something. But the village leader had insisted that the information was important enough that it warranted a human messenger. The feudal lord's residence was a two days' travel from Kage. She didn't bother to rest on her way there, but on her way back, the weariness was beginning to sink in. Deciding to camp for the night, she settled herself up in the trees. She'd been reckless, not setting traps before so rested. But she was tired, so she figured she'd be fine without them.

Seconds away from sleep, the sound of rustling leaves travelled to her ears. Instantly on alert, she opened her eyes to see that she was surrounded by about fifteen men. Thieves, she had thought, or mercenaries. Either way, they all seemed to be heavily armed, and Arya blamed her tiredness for not having sensed their chakra's soon enough. They also seemed to be leering at her. The one closest to her, a tall, well muscled man, stepped closer, and instantly she felt the urge to recoil.

She'd gotten over her childhood atrocities, for the most part, but sometimes she felt as though she was that same helpless little girl that she once was. Perhaps it was because she was exhausted, or because it was late, or because she was alone, but she was feeling that way at that moment. She began to panic, though externally she simply seemed bored.

"What's a pretty little thing like you doing out in the forest alone?" asked the man in front of her as he hunkered down on the branch she was on. His gaze swept over her body slowly, heatedly, and when his eyes returned to hers, he was wearing a cocky smirk.

"Hey look," called another man, "She's a kunoichi. From the hidden Shadows."

The man in front of her chuckled then, reaching out towards her as a couple of the others began closing in. Her heart began to race, and she began to hear familiar rumblings within her mind. Her vision started to go blurry, black spots dancing in her eyes as her hands started to shake.

"Even better, show me some of your moves sweetheart."

She felt a large palm on her thigh before everything literally went black. The last thing she remembered was hearing a deep, animalistic growl. She'd caught to look on the man's face and realized that the sound was coming from her.

She'd woken up some time later, curled on the forest floor. She was confused, her head all muddled. But then the events that had happened came rushing back to her. The men, the looks, the hand on her thigh. Panicked, she sat up, fully expecting to be stripped naked, but she looked down to see that all her clothing was still in place. She was relieved, but she was also confused. Getting to her feet, she looked around for a second before she froze.

Their mutilated bodies were everywhere.

Strewn left and right. Some of them were still hanging off the branches while others were heaped on the floor. Blood covered everything.

Everything except her.

Both confused and shaken, she looked to her left to see that two of the mercenaries were entwined together, their weapons jabbed into one another. Looking around at the other bodies, she noticed that they were also grouped into pairs or threes. The only weapons she could find were theirs. A quick check confirmed that she had all her kunai and shuriken on her, and they were spotless.

Had they turned on one another?

No…that couldn't have been it.

Lightheaded, with the beginnings of a migraine working into her temples, she gnawed on her lip as she took in the gory scene around her. She was so busy trying to connect dots that she didn't sense him until he spoke.

"You did this."

Her eyes snapped up to see Itachi standing across from her, a solemn look on his face. She was caught between being surprised at his appearance after two years, and being surprised at what he had just said. It took her a moment, but she finally found her voice.

"Wh-what…I didn't-this wasn't me. I didn't do it."

"Except you did, little girl. You killed all these men. Perhaps not with your own hands, but this was your doing."

It had been the most he'd ever said to her during a single visit, and it was enough to have the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end.

She was shocked to say the least. She had killed before, once on a mission with her team back in the hidden leaf and twice more with her new team. Death didn't faze her, but the manner had her unsettled. There were many efficient ways to take someone down, quick and effective. But this… These men had been hacked to pieces. Overkill would be an understatement. And if what Itachi was saying was true, she not only did it, but she also didn't even remember doing so.

She suddenly seemed to lose feeling in her legs and she found herself dropping to her knees before sitting back, unable to stop staring at the mess _she'd_ made.

"This isn't the first time either."

Eyes widening, she snapped her head towards him.

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said."

His nonchalance was infuriating. He was acting like he wasn't standing in the midst of slain men, guts and stray limbs lying here and there. There was so much she didn't understand, and she had so many questions, but she just couldn't bring herself to ask them. Covering her face with her hands, she wondered what she was going to do. No one from the village could see this. Not to mention her squad. Almost as though he was reading her mind, Itachi spoke once again.

"Go. Before they come looking for you."

Looking at him with carefully blank eyes, she got to her feet again. "But…what about them? I need to get rid of-"

"Just go."

And for once, Arya did as she was told and she turned around and ran off towards the village. She'd waited for days, on edge, for news of the discovery of the bodies near the village. But it never came. Had Itachi…covered for her? If he had, it only complicated things further. Was he a good guy or a bad guy? Could she trust him or not?

She saw him once after that. A year ago. And something about their meeting was different than all the other times before.

She'd been meditating by the riverside, and she sensed him come up behind her. After a moment of silence, she spoke up, not moving from her spot.

"You got rid of the bodies," she'd stated, referring to the incident that happened a year prior. He hadn't responded, but that in itself was confirmation enough. Looking over her shoulder, she narrowed her eyes at the older man.

"Why did you do it?"

"Your village wouldn't have taken too kindly to you if they'd found out what you'd done."

"And what do you care what happens to me?"

He'd paused then, seeming to consider his words.

"You are different. Unique. Unlike anyone else. You have a greater purpose in this life. But you have much to learn. And one cannot learn from prison."

She didn't know why, but her heartbeat picked up at his words. She hated that he seemed to be speaking in riddles. Vague and confusing. What did he want with her? And more than that, how did he seem to know so much about her?

"Soon, Arya."

And then he was gone.

Naruto's insistent shouting brought her back from her thoughts.

Blinking off the sudden lethargy she felt, she looked over at the blonde. He was saying something, but she couldn't quite hear him because her ears started to ring. She shook her head, trying to clear it as she tried to read Naruto's lips. Something about Uchiha and Sasuke and Itachi.

Sasuke and Itachi.

Her head swung back to the man standing in front of her, and her head spun at the sudden movement.

How had she missed it before? Sasuke and Itachi looked very much alike. Not only that, but they were also both Sharingan users. Furrowing her brow, she turned to look at Sasuke. It was so unlike her to miss something so obvious. The younger man was glaring at her, his eyes blazing red like his brothers'. She tried to say something, but her tongue felt thick in her mouth. Now that she thought about it, her whole body felt heavy. To her, it seemed as though all her movements were exaggeratedly slow, despite the fact that they really weren't.

Something wasn't right, and she really didn't like it.

"Arya," she heard Kakashi say, his voice sounding farther away than it should have. He sounded…concerned. Before she could think too far into that, a sharp, piercing pain shot through her skull and she collapsed to her knees with a silent gasp.

"Arya!" she heard Zen shout just as she fisted her hands tightly in her hair, knuckles digging into her scalp. It felt like her brain was being liquefied, and Kami it _hurt._ Groaning low in her throat, she doubled over and began to tremble even as black spots danced behind her closed eyes.

"I wouldn't touch her if I were you," she heard Itachi say monotonously. Footsteps she'd previously heard rushing towards her froze at the warning.

"What are you doing to her?!" someone demanded.

Naruto.

"The less you interfere, the faster this will be over. I don't want to hurt her."

"Except you are hurting her, you bastard," she heard Zen snap angrily. She was trying really hard to focus on the conversation around her, hoping it'd take her mind off this excruciating pain, but it wasn't working. It was steadily getting worse, and for a second Arya thought she'd pass out. Her body began to jerk in seizure-like movements, and she had to bite her lip hard enough to bleed to keep from screaming.

A couple steps away, Kakashi could feel his stomach drop to the ground as he watched the girl he was very much still in love with writhe in obvious agony. The seizing stopped, and her eyes fluttered open for a moment, and his blood ran cold when he saw them.

They were completely black.

His gaze snapped to Itachi, who had is own eyes focused intently on the girl in front of him. He was torn between terror and anger. He wanted to rip Itachi limb from limb, but he also wanted to gather Arya up in his arms. She whimpered then, and the sound pierced his heart like a poisoned senbon.

Arya, like many shinobi, had a ridiculously high pain tolerance. Once, when she was seven, she'd fallen out of a tree and had all but snapped her leg clean in half. One look at the messy little heap of long black hair and blood had Kakashi unable to think straight. He, a shinobi who'd killed and saw all sorts of atrocities, was horrified at the sight of a little girl who'd fallen out of a tree. Though outwardly he attempted to remain calm, his mind was in full panic mode as he sped through the forest and towards the hospital. And through it all Arya simply laid in his arms, not making a single sound of pain or discomfort. Her bone was protruding out of her leg, and yet she hadn't shed a single tear. Hell, he was probably more likely to burst into tears than she was at the time. And that was saying something.

It was that girl who was currently whimpering and crying out in agony. He didn't even want to begin to think about what kind of pain she had to be in to actually voice her distress. When she began to plead silently, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes, he lost it. He would have lunged at Itachi if it weren't for Enta who reached out and grabbed him sharply by the arm.

Kakashi intended to snap at his friend, but the stricken look on the other man's face had him falling silent.

"Stop it," Enta demanded, his voice gravelly. "Fucking stop Itachi. You were supposed to leave her alone!"

Itachi didn't even flinch when Enta raised his voice. He simply paused before addressing the tense group, his eyes still on Arya.

"There was a change in plans," he said matter-of-factly, but even then, a very slight frown marred his brow.

"What the fuck do you mean there was a change in-"

Enta was cut off by Sakura's sudden gasp. "H-her skin…it's turning black…"

Sure enough, Kakashi looked down at Arya with his Sharingan uncovered, and he saw the way her skin was turning greyish. It looked like she'd been rolling around in soot. She was convulsing again, and the sounds she was making were sounding less and less human-like and more animalistic. Not only that, but the octave of those sounds was dropping until she didn't even sound like herself anymore.

With a sinking feeling, Kakashi realized what was happening.

Itachi was forcefully summoning the spirit within Arya.

"No!"

It took him a moment to realize that it was he who called out. Taking a couple steps forward, he stopped just short of touching her. Crouching down, he ran his eyes over her spasming form. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, but he recalled Itachi's warning from before. There very likely could have been truth behind the warning, and he wasn't going to risk hurting her further by touching her. Instead, he sought to distract her. From what he could tell, the spirit was awakening. The complete blacking out of her eyes, the darkening of her skin, the change in her voice. They were all signs.

"Arya," he murmured urgently, sending up a quick prayer that she could hear him. "Arya, listen to my voice. You can fight this. Just keep breathing, it'll be okay."

"Don't tell her to fight it," said Itachi, infuriatingly calm. "It'll only make it worse-"

"You're going to kill her!" snapped Kakashi, all semblance of his usual control out the window. From the corner of his eye, he could see his students' stunned expressions. Whether it was because of his uncharacteristic behavior or the situation overall, he didn't know. He didn't quite care at that moment either. "Forcing it like this…you're overwhelming her system. There's only so much she can take until she-"

He broke off when Arya growled, blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth. She opened her eyes and looked up at him from where she was sprawled out on her side. The whites of her eyes were gone, as were the usual grey of her irises. Kakashi stared into the pitch-blackness that met his gaze. He'd seen this a time or two when they were younger, and it usually didn't end well.

She blinked just then, and for a moment her eyes switched back to normal. His own eyes widened slightly as hers filled with a fine sheen of tears. "Kashi," she whimpered, bottom lip trembling. "Make it stop…please…" And in that moment, he didn't see the twenty year old woman who hated his guts before him. Instead, he saw the tiny little bundle he'd scooped out of the snow outside the gates of Konoha that fateful day. He saw the adorable little seven year old who sat in her classroom at the Academy, eyes teary as the room erupted in chaos around her. He saw the child who'd reached out to him in the middle of the night to escape her nightmares.

Kakashi Hatake had never felt more utterly helpless in his entire life.

Almost like the flip of a switch, she blinked again and her eyes reverted back to black. She was clawing at the ground now, ripping out chunks of earth as she tried desperately to find a way to ease the pain. But there was no way to do that, Kakashi knew. Even willingly summoning the Black Dragon was an uncomfortable experience. But to have it forcefully summoned? It had to be excruciating.

Arya went completely still then. Her previously tensed muscles went lax and her face slackened. For a horrifying moment, Kakashi thought she was dead. Forcing down the hysterical feeling bubbling up within him, he leaned in close. When he heard the faint fluttering on her heart, he nearly sagged in relief.

She was alive.

He turned his glare onto Itachi.

"It's over," the older Uchiha said, and Kakashi narrowed his eyes. He began to ask what he meant, but Enta beat him to it, stepping forward so he stood between Itachi and Arya.

"The test," said Itachi. The former Konoha ninja then let his gaze stray over to his brother for a split second before his body dispersed into a murder of crows. The fact that Itachi could do what he did with just a clone… It worried him. Turning his eyes back to Arya, he wondered if Lady Tsunade was too late in summoning the young kunoichi back to Konoha.

Reaching out, Kakashi brushed a long lock of coal black hair away from her face. She appeared to be sleeping, but he knew she had passed out. She needed medical attention. Pulling her into his arms, he cradled her against his chest before getting to his feet. Enta turned around to face him, his eyes on his student and his face oddly pale.

"Lady Tsunade was right…" he murmured, sounding very far away, and Kakashi turned away from his friend.

"I'm taking her to the hospital," he stated stiffly. Looking over his shoulder at Naruto, he instructed him to send a toad ahead to the Hokage to tell her to meet them at the hospital. The blonde nodded determinedly before proceeding to make the necessary hand signs.

"None of you will speak of this," he added with a calmness he did not truly feel. His eyes rested on Sasuke. The younger Uchiha seemed to be in a daze, and so Kakashi waited until Sharingan met Sharingan. Sasuke gave him a long look before stalking off into the forest, Sakura dashing after him.

And with that, Kakashi leapt into the trees, running full speed back to the village. He realized the irony of the action scornfully. As the trees blurred around him, Kakashi couldn't help but glance down at Arya's beautiful face. She was sickly pale, and a trail of blood had dried on her face, but she was still gorgeous. He couldn't help but smile sadly at that. Squeezing her motionless body tighter against him, he urged himself to go faster.

He made her a promise that day she lay in a hospital bed as she stared up at him with big grey eyes. He promised her that he'd protect her. And he intended to keep that promise.

He didn't sacrifice his love for her all those years ago to lose her now.

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**Please don't forget to leave me a review. **


	10. Chapter 9

**Sorry this took so long to post, lol. I've been swamped with labs and exams and such. But here you go! This chapter is mostly filler. Just some funny/fluffy stuff, because, as a loyal reviewer pointed out, it's not fun when everything is serious all the time. I hope you like the change in pace :) I certainly enjoyed writing it. **

**I don't own Naruto, duh. **

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She came to slowly, one sense at a time.

As a skilled shinobi, Arya knew how to stay calm and proceed with caution when she found herself waking up in an unknown location with Kami knows who around. And so she lay perfectly still as voices began to float around her.

"-the most youthful of youthful blossoms! I, Konoha's Sublime Green Beast, will right this wrong done to our precious flower!"

"Gai…For Kami's sake. We're in a hospital. Do you want Tsunade to come back in here to tell you to shut up?"

"But Kakashi! Our blossom must be protected!"

"She's not your blossom."

"I simply meant that she-"

"GUY SENSEI!"

Arya almost winced at the new voice accompanied by the sound of a door being slammed open so forcefully that it creaked on its hinges. She could feel the air shift as the person rushed into the room, followed by the sweet scent of jasmine.

"Lee! I see you have brought flowers for our flower!"

"Not your flower," she heard Kakashi mutter again from some unknown corner of the room, but he was completely ignored as Guy praised Lee for his youthfulness. Lee had to be Guy's mini-me. She'd noticed him that day in the clearing. Then again, it was pretty hard to miss someone in an obscene green jumpsuit. She used to think Guy was overwhelming, and so she couldn't even fathom what two of them would be like. She didn't _want_ to fathom what it'd be like. And yet she seemed to be getting an up close and personal demonstration anyway.

"I know you're awake."

At the sound of Kakashi's voice, much closer than it was a couple moments ago, Arya reluctantly opened her eyes to blink over at him. He was perched in a chair, slouching casually with one of those pornographic books he loved to read clasped idly in one hand. He wasn't looking at her, his visible eye on the pages of his book, and so after a long moment she turned to look at the room she was in.

As she suspected, she was in the hospital. The smell of antisceptic was unmistakeable, sickeningly so. She disliked the way hospitals smelled. It just gave her the creeps. Which reminded her that she did not want to be there any longer than she had to be. Not wanting to deal with the lazy copy ninja, and definitely not the two spandex clad fools who were getting overly emotional over a potted jasmine plant, she decided to phase into smoke and make her escape.

Except she couldn't.

And that's when she felt an inkling of panic clutch at her throat.

She disliked being held down, she disliked being tied down even more. Glancing down at the restraints attached to her hospital bed, Arya couldn't help but begin to tug at them. Clearly they weren't civilian restraints. They probably weren't even regular shinobi restraints, considering that she could usually phase right through those. No, these were probably made specifically to keep those with her kind of ability restrained. And she hated to admit it, but it terrified her.

She felt cool fingers on her wrist, and her eyes shot to Kakashi, muscles tensed.

"It's alright," he said gently, soothingly. He knew that restraints made her anxious, and so he seemed to be trying to calm her down. Of course he'd also know how to do that, having done it before.

And so he gently stroked his thumb back and forth across the delicate skin of her wrist, just under the restraint. Almost instantly, she felt herself beginning to relax. It was ridiculous really, how he managed to calm her with the simplest of touches, all the while looking as cool, calm and collected as always.

"Get me out of these," she whispered back to him, forearm flexing subconsciously. His finger stopped moving, and his hesitation to let her go brought her anxiousness right back.

"Kakashi. Let me out of these fucking restraints," she demanded of him, perhaps a little too loudly. At her seemingly sudden outburst, Lee and Guy finally noticed that she was awake and came rushing to her bedside at once, nearly tramping over Kakashi in the process.

"Most lovely flower of Konoha! You have awakened!"

A vein throbbed in her temple as Guy all but hollered right in her ear as he embraced her tightly. Her discomfort with being restrained was forgotten for a moment as she was overwhelmed by a sea of green. Pulling back, Guy grinned widely at her, teeth twinkling as he flashed her his customary 'nice guy pose'.

"Most youthful indeed," he said and Arya bit her tongue to keep from insulting the man. She knew he meant well, but he had a horrible way of showing it. And speaking of showing her things, Lee seemed to take that moment as his opening to offer her the plant he still carried in his hands.

"We have not officially met yet, dearest Arya, but I am Rock Lee! Konoha's Beautiful Green Beast! And I have brought the most beautiful flowers for the most beautiful-"

Unfortunately for him, and her, Lee somehow managed to trip in the middle of his introduction as he was leaping to her side. It seemed to happen in slow motion, the way the potted plant flew out of his outstretched hands, the way his eyes widened almost comically in horror, the way his body careened towards hers. Kakashi, probably out of instinct, reached out to pluck the jasmine plant out of the air before it crashed to the ground. He didn't, however, catch Lee before he landed on top of her, sprawled half on and half off the bed. Arya uttered a soft grunt as Lee's muscular body thudded into hers, and since she couldn't move away, she could only move her head to the side to avoid a collision with his. Lifting his face from where it landed in the pillow next to her, he blinked slowly at her. She was hoping he'd move, but he seemed to be paralyzed in shock. Sighing, she flexed her hands under the restraints yet again, an uncomfortable feeling blooming in her chest.

"You done feeling me up yet?" she asked bluntly, and Lee's thick brows furrowed for a moment before he looked down.

And saw his hands groping her breasts.

Almost instantly, he jumped off her, crashing onto the floor and disappearing from her line of vision. There was a long moment of silence during which Guy was staring at the spot where Lee lay, slack jawed and Kakashi was looking heavenward, plant still in his hands.

And then she heard the sniffling.

Slowly, a pair of hands appeared over the edge of her bed. Arya frowned, completely confused as to what Lee was doing. The top of his head appeared next, and when she saw his face, she had to bite back a groan. His face was streaming with tears as he held his hands out as far as he could from his body, as though he was trying to detach them from his person.

"GUY-SENSEI!" he wailed, body trembling. "I have defiled the beautiful blossom!"

Rolling her eyes, Arya began to tell him that it was fine, but Guy beat her to it.

"LEE!" he roared, chest puffing out in indignation as he rounded on his student. "How could you do something so unyouthful?!"

"I am sorry for my actions Guy-Sensei!" cried Lee, and Arya closed her eyes, not believing that this could actually be happening. She opened her eyes again just in time to see Guy deliver a roundhouse kick to the back of Lee's head, sending him crashing into the wall. The force of the impact cracked the previously unmarred surface and she heard Kakashi grumble something about Tsunade's wrath under his breath.

"We do not touch youthful blossoms in their most sacred of sacred places without permission Lee!" yelled the Jonin, tears now streaming down his own face as he shook his fist in the air. Sitting up from where he crumbled against the wall, Lee literally crawled over to his sensei, tears still coming at full force.

Arya looked over at Kakashi, giving him an incredulous look, but the older ninja didn't seem surprised at all. Instead he had set the plant aside and was reading his stupid book again, as though all hell wasn't breaking loose in her hospital room.

"What should I do Guy-Sensei!? How do I atone for what I have done!?"

"First! You must apologize to our dear Arya! And then you will run two hundred laps around the village. On your hands."

Arya grimaced, but Lee took the 'punishment' with something akin to glee on his face. Eyes bright and determined, he turned to her, shuffling on his knees to her bedside. He opened his mouth, to make an ardent apology that involved the word 'youth' one too many times no doubt, but she interjected before he could.

"It's alright, Lee. It was an accident. It's fine. It's not like I haven't been felt up before."

Apparently that wasn't the right thing to say, because a horrified look passed over Lee's face as he jumped to his feet.

"Someone else has defiled you too?" he gasped. "Who?! Who is this villain?! I will fight him and reclaim your honour!" Behind him, Guy was gazing at his student with pride, eyes sheening with happy tears now.

"Offering to help a fair maiden in need, Lee, you make me proud to be your sensei," said the emotional Jonin as if he didn't just smack his student around for feeling her up five minutes ago.

"It is I who is proud to be your student!" crowed Lee, fist clenched in determination. "Do you know who has defiled our Arya? I must confront them at once!"

She couldn't have been sure, but she swore she saw Kakashi shift slightly in his seat from the corner of her eye and she raised an eyebrow. How interesting.

"Well," mused Guy, looking off into the distance pensively as he rubbed his jaw. "There was Kakashi-"

"KAKASHI-SENSEI HOW COULD YOU!"

The man in question simply raised his book higher, so that it covered his face. Lee wasn't having any of that, and so he lunged at the silver-haired ninja, attempting to pry the book away. But of course Kakashi evaded the mini-Guy easily, simply shifting the book away at the last minute.

"How could you defile our beautiful flower?!" Lee demanded and Kakashi sighed.

"Not your flower," he muttered again and Arya was faintly amused at the fact that it seemed to be all he could say for the past little while.

"Lee, I do believe this was an instance where Kakashi had permission from the blossom in question," said Guy, still pensively looking off in the distance as though he was trying to come up with more men who've…'defiled' her. Which would be pointless considering that when she was in the Leaf, Kakashi was the only one she'd been with. No one else dared to try anything with her for fear of retaliation from him.

"But…why would Arya grant Kakashi-sensei permission to defile her?" asked Lee, the picture of innocence. Clearly the kid had never had a girlfriend before, because then he'd know exactly why she'd given her consent.

"Because they were engaging in the most youthful, and consenting, act, Lee," explained Guy, finally coming out of his contemplative state. The younger shinobi seemed to light up at that, turning wide, sparkling eyes to her. She almost didn't want to hear what he was about to say.

"Please, Arya! Would you allow me to also engage in this youthful act with you-"

This time when Lee flew across the room, it was because of a swift kick delivered by Kakashi, who still hadn't looked up from his book mind you. She and Guy looked from an unconscious Lee to the nonchalant Jonin who was acting like he didn't just drop kick someone across the room.

"Leg cramp," he stated blandly after a moment and Arya rolled her eyes before leaning back against her pillow. 'Leg cramp' her ass.

Clearing his throat, Guy walked over to his student and slung his unconscious body over his shoulder. "Perhaps it is time that we took our leave," he said, heading to the door. Arya decided that it'd be most polite to just not comment on that. "We wish you a speedy recovery, young flower," he said, oddly somber now. "And know that we will right this wrong. Nothing will happen to you here." She blinked slowly at that, at the sincerity in his voice, and she awkwardly nodded. But then he ruined it by switching back to his usual ways. "Because this Sublime Green Beast of Konoha will protect you with his life!" he hollered before flashing her a grin and disappearing out the door with a still unconscious Lee.

The door silently clicked shut behind them, and the room was so quiet that she was sure her ears were ringing. With a sigh she settled further into the bed, exhausted from all the…excitement.

"Some things never change," came Kakashi's even voice a moment later, and she turned her head to look at him, surprised to see that his nose was out of his book for a change. Instead, he was staring right at her, mask down around his neck and his visible eye unreadable. Swallowing, she just nodded, turning her head back to stare up at the ceiling. As they lapsed into silence again, she found herself trying not to think back to the last time they'd been alone in a room together. But of course, that was to no avail, because was most definitely thinking about his lips on hers.

Urg. Bad Arya, bad.

She was fairly certain that she was beginning to blush, and she could feel her heartbeat picking up. The man beside her could have easily picked up on both those things. Picked up on them and held them over her head. She half expected him to make some stupid, snide comment, but he continued to sit there silently.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She turned her head back to him, intending to demand that he get the cuffs off her so she could leave, but the look in his eye kept her quiet. He'd shifted in the hospital chair so that he was sitting on the edge of it, knees brushing the bed. The position put him rather close to her, and she found herself staring intently at his face.

He reached out then, to gently touch his fingers to the side of her face.

"Do you remember what happened?" he asked in that same, deceptively even voice. It took her a moment, but she nodded slowly, the events from before coming back to her.

"Have I been out for long?" she asked, trying to ignore the hand he still held to her face. But that was working out just about as well as trying to not think about their kiss did.

"A little over a day," said Kakashi. He held her eyes for a moment longer before letting his eyes slide shut. Exhaling heavily, he dropped his hand from her face to clutch at one of hers resting on the bed. She watched, enraptured, as his Adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed. It didn't seem like much, but for Kakashi it was.

The older man usually stuck to detachedness or making perverted, offhanded jokes, opting not to be an open book. She supposed part of that came from the guilt over Rin and Tobi's deaths. Part of him still blamed himself, and he used that guilt and all those feelings to push himself to become the most powerful shinobi he could be. It was around then that he'd been enlisted into ANBU and he became distant and detached from everything and everyone. He'd made it out of that phase and had become a little lighter over the years, but part of his old mentality still stuck.

"You're okay."

It wasn't a question, it was a statement. His words broke her out of her train of thoughts, and she focused on him again to see that his eye was open and on her.

"I'm okay," she repeated quietly, her fingers squeezing his in spite of herself. Falling silent again, they simply looked at one another. She tried to hold on to her anger and her resentment, and a big part of her still felt those things, but it really was pointless to deny the fact that she was still in love with him. It'd been four years, and he broke her heart in the worst way possible, but she still felt the same way about him as she did all those years ago. The only difference now was that she was a little more guarded, a little more unwilling to throw herself back into his arms. It didn't mean that she didn't want to, a fact that was proven when she kissed him back that day in her room, she just didn't want to be hurt again.

"About the whole Itachi thing-"

He cut her off with a sharp shake of his head.

"Not now," he explained. "There's going to be a meeting, and you're going to have to tell us everything then."

Arya scowled, she didn't do well with authority figures, and now she was supposed to go and speak before a bunch of them? Kakashi caught the look and gave her a little, halfhearted smirk.

"This is what happens when you keep something like Itachi Uchiha a secret."

"I wasn't keeping secrets," she snapped with a huff. "I didn't even know who he was, alright? I didn't think he was some sort of international criminal or whatever."

"The way you greeted him leads me to believe that you've met him before. You didn't think that it'd be a good idea to let Enta know that some mysterious ninja was paying you visits in secret?"

Her scowl only deepened. When he put it like that, it did seem like a stupid move on her part. But who was he to judge her? She was going through a lot, mostly because of him, and hadn't exactly felt like interacting with anyone, let alone telling her sensei that some creep was following her around. She had just brushed it off as nothing, though some part of her mind told her that she shouldn't have done so. But it was too late to go back and fix it. She hadn't mentioned her visitor, and he turned out to be a big deal in Konoha, and now all sorts of hell were surely going to break loose. Speaking off…

"I don't remember the specifics, you know, since my brain was being liquefied and all. But I do recall you and Enta arguing with him about something. Do you know what he wants?"

Kakashi didn't say anything, his face once again that careful mask of indifference.

"I imagine it will be discussed at that meeting," he said vaguely, shrugging his broad shoulders.

"Well when is this fucking meeting then?" she asked, wanting to get the unpleasantry over and done with as soon as possible.

"Not for a couple days," he said, and before she could protest, he continued. "We have to wait for Enta and the rest of your team to get back from their mission."

"Mission? What mission?" she demanded, furrowing her brows.

"You know I can't discuss that with you."

"Well you know about it, so I don't see why I can't. Does it have something to do with this mess?"

When he simply remained silent, she very nearly growled at him. But that made her head hurt, so she simply lay back against her pillows again and closed her eyes. After a long moment of silence, she sighed to herself.

"Have you been here the entire time?" she found herself asking before she could stop herself. She'd wondered that ever since she woke up, she just didn't know if she should ask him about it. Apparently her subconscious decided that the question must be voiced. When she was met with silence, yet again, she turned her head to look at him. He was leaning back in his seat again, nose in his stupid pornographic book. Clearly he had no intentions of giving her a response. But…perhaps that was an answer in itself.

Turning her head again, she stared blankly at the ceiling for Kami knows how long. It was silent in the room, the only sounds being the periodical beeping of her monitors and the rustling of the leaves outside. Eventually she felt herself being lulled into unconsciousness again.

And as her eyelids fluttered shut, she chose to ignore the fact that her fingers were still entwined with his.

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**Please don't forget to leave a review :D**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey ya'll, no, I'm not dead, and no, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, lol. So sorry this took so long to post, but it is my longest chapter yet, soooooo brownie points? **

**Hope you enjoy reading :)**

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Arya was not pleased.

Shuffling on her feet for what felt like the millionth time, she let her eyes drift over the people seated before her. The Hokage, the Elders, and three men introduced to her as Shikaku Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka, and Ibiki Morino. It was her understanding that they were the Hokage's advisor, and part of the Intelligence and Interrogation departments respectively. Although, she did wonder why the three of them had to be present at the blasted meeting. The fact that the head of Konoha's torture and interrogation division was in attendance didn't serve to put her at ease. Then again, neither were the glares she was getting from Sasuke. He, Naruto, Sakura, Zen, Haru, as well as Kakashi and Enta were also present, though they were all standing by the wall across the room, out of her line of vision for the most part. That didn't prevent her from feeling their eyes on her unfortunately, and she struggled not to fidget.

She absolutely hated these sorts of things. Being put up in front of a bunch of people and forced to speak while they all watched her like hawks. It was unsettling and it had her hackles rising to the point where felt as though all her muscles were perpetually tensed. She just wanted the entire ordeal to be over with so she could go and demolish a small portion of the forest or something.

When Kakashi had informed her back at the hospital that the Hokage wanted a meeting to discuss what had conspired a week ago with Itachi, she assumed it'd be between herself, Kakashi, Enta and Tsunade in her office. But no. She was instead ushered into the large conference room only to see that the Hokage decided to bring friends to the party. And even if she could somehow brush off the fact that there were other 'higher ups' in the room, she still didn't understand why the other chunin had to be there. They had nothing to do with anything, and she could really do without the stares she was receiving from the lot of them.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she dug her blunt nails into her flesh as she turned an almost murderous look on Enta, as if any of this was his fault. He knew her well enough to know how agitated she was, and so he gave her a reassuring smile before mouthing _'relax'_. Yea, easy enough for him to say. He wasn't the one being micro-analyzed like some specimen in a lab. Still, he did have a point. She had to relax, what other option did she have? If she threw a fit, like, a serious fit, she was sure she'd be exiled, jailed, or executed. Any of those options would result in a shit ton of paperwork for Enta, and he really hated it when she made him fill out paperwork because of her.

Her eyes flickered to Kakashi as he leaned against the wall, hands shoved into his pockets. His eye was trained on her, but so were the others, and so she was expecting it. She hadn't seen much of him since that day at the hospital. She distinctly remembered falling asleep with his fingers curled around hers, but she'd woken up alone. She had been released a couple hours later, and since her own team was out on a mission, she simply went back to her room alone. A part of her did wonder where Kakashi had gotten to, wondered if he'd show up to 'check up' on her. But he hadn't, and she tried to convince herself that she didn't care. In fact, this was the first time she'd seen him since that day in the hospital, and the circumstances were less than ideal.

When Tsunade cleared her throat, finally done whispering with her cronies, Arya turned her head to face forward. She was certain that her posture and demeanor clearly told them that she didn't want to be there and that she didn't give a rat's ass about proper decorum. The Elders, especially the old lady Koharu, clearly did not approve, but Tsunade looked sort of amused. Or perhaps she was pissed off. Probably both.

"Arya Rin of the Hidden Shadow," said the Hokage as if they didn't all know who she was already. "What?" Arya asked flatly, raising an eyebrow in defiance, and she was fairly certain that Enta sent up a prayer to Kami at the exchange. Tsunade simply gave her a long look.

"Listen you little brat, we understand that you don't want to be here, but neither do any of us. So let's just get through this and get the hell out of here, alright?"

Arya decided to let the 'little brat' part slide and only nodded, which was about as much cooperation she was willing to offer.

"Alright, why don't you start with the basics?"

"Shouldn't you already know the basics?" returned Arya in that same defiant tone, and she could practically see the veins throbbing at the Hokage's temples.

"Such insolence!" cried one of the Elders and Arya simply smirked in their direction.

"Perhaps you should let me handle this, Lady Hokage," said Ibiki, leaning forward to brace his arms on the table in front of him. Tsunade simply hushed them all with a flick of her wrist before steepling her fingers before her face, eyes narrowing at Arya.

"I suggest you do as you are told, kid. Now start talking before I decide to take Ibiki up on his offer."

Arya rolled her eyes at the blatant threat, but decided to humor the occupants of the room nonetheless.

"I don't know what you mean by 'the basics' but I assume you are talking about the fact that I am a vessel." Across the room, she heard Naruto's soft gasp. He started to say something, but was silenced by Kakashi. Tsunade shot the blonde a warning look before giving her a curt nod. Arya shifted and jammed her hands into her pockets in a style that mimicked Kakashi's to a T. "If you wanted to know about that, you'd be better off asking Enta or Kakashi," she said, but continued before anyone could comment on that. "I was born with the spirit of the Great Black Dragon sealed within me. I don't know why. I don't know how. I don't care why or how. But he's there. Usually makes an appearance when I'm particularly angry or distressed. Nothing out of the ordinary. Well, as far as housing spirits go, it's pretty normal I guess. He's cool. We don't have problems."

"You seem to be quite…friendly with it," said Koharu, disapproval clearly written all over her wrinkly face.

"He," Arya clarified instantly, her tone turning just a little taunting, "Not it. He has a name too, if that'll suit you better. _Ryujin_. I'll let him know you said hello."

"Arya…" came the warning from Enta, and she didn't bother to conceal her smirk.

"You speak with him," said Tsunade, though she supposed it was supposed to be more of a question.

"Occasionally. I can hear him in my head sometimes, he's usually pretty dormant though."

"But not all the time," said the other Elder, Homura, and Arya gave him a look.

"That's what 'usually' means."

Across the room, Naruto snickered but it immediately turned into whimpering after Sakura smacked him.

"Tsunade, are you going to continue to let this child make a mockery out of-"

"You are trying my patience Arya," said the Hokage, completely cutting off Homura who simply sputtered in indignation. "I won't continue to be so forgiving if you keep this up, do you understand?" She waited for Arya to nod, and when she did, she continued. "Can you draw him out?"

"I guess," answered Arya with a nonchalant shrug, but when Tsunade only waited, sighed again. "It's hard to make him talk to me if he doesn't want to. 'Conversations' happen when he choses to make his presence known. So as far as mentally 'drawing him out' I can't really do much."

"And what about physically?" this question coming from Shikaku.

"Ryujin is a spirit, but he can function as a summons. Instead of using a regular summoning jutsu, I have to use a modified version. An internal summoning jutsu. Hurts like a bitch, but I guess it's worth it when the result is an enormous fire spirit in the form of a dragon, right?"

If Tsunade had noted the cursing, she didn't say anything about it. Arya was fairly certain the woman knew all of this already, and so she could have easily told the others the information herself. She didn't know why she had to stand there and tell them herself, it was unnecessary and a waste of everyone's time.

"That's when you have control over the spirit, is it not? What about when you lose control?"

Arya knew she didn't like that granny for a reason. Sneaky old bat. She half wished that Ryujin would make her 'lose control' just then so she could give the lot of them a front row seat as to what happened. But that'd probably not end too well. For anyone.

"He can summon himself. Perhaps not in a full physical form like when I summon him myself, but he can take over my body. Use his chakra through me. I generally don't remember what goes on when that happens. I'm essentially a puppet."

The Elders began to whisper then, shooting glances between her and Naruto. Arya couldn't hear what they were saying, they must've used a jutsu of some sort to keep conversation between the lot of them private, but she did however see Homura mouth _'Naruto' and 'Kyuubi'. _

She knew, or rather she was informed, that Naruto was a lot like her in that he was also a vessel for a demon spirit. His was a part of a whole, one of the nine tailed beasts, whereas Ryujin was a fire spirit, an entity of his own that had nothing to do with any of that. Still, the concepts were similar enough. At the end of the day, they were both hosts to spirits. And if the look on his face was any indication, he'd known nothing about her and Ryujin.

"What is your business with Itachi Uchiha," asked Koharu suddenly, and the abrupt change in topic had Arya pausing for a moment.

"I have no business with Itachi," she said finally, "he paid me a couple visits back when I was in Kage. He rarely said anything, he just…watched me, I guess. I didn't think anything of it."

"A strange man seeks you out when you are alone, doesn't state his business with you yet continues to approach you, and yet you did not report it to your Sensei." asked Homura, frowning deeply at her. "Why?"

"Like I said, I didn't think anything of it. To be completely fucking honest, I was dealing with other shit at the time and some weirdo was the least of my worries." Across the room, unbeknownst to her, Kakashi's hands tightened to fists in his pockets and Enta gave him a sympathetic look before turning back to his student. By 'other shit' she clearly meant her messy break up with Kakashi. It took a serious mental and emotional toll on her. Enta watched her standing there, before some of the most influential and most important people in Konoha, looking like she was waiting in line at the market. At first glance she merely looked bored or annoyed, but he could tell that she was unsettled. He was horrified with her attitude, though he was totally expecting it, but for whatever reason, he was also oddly proud of the girl he'd come to think of as his little sister. She'd been through a lot, especially during the four years after she'd left Konoha and the months before it, but she'd pushed through. And she had done a lot of that on her own. Enta couldn't help but feel the familiar feelings of guilt that came up whenever he thought about their time in Kage though. He let her have her space because he thought that'd be the best course of action, and it was for the most part, but he wondered if things would have been different if he tried to engage her more. Perhaps she'd have felt comfortable enough to tell him about Itachi then. Regardless, it was too late to go back and fix any of that now. At this point, all they could do look forward, and he'd be damned if he let Itachi Uchiha hurt her again.

As soon as the poorly veiled reference to her failed relationship left her lips, Arya wished she could have sunk into the ground and disappeared. She hadn't meant to throw that out there, especially not with Kakashi right there in the room with her. Taking a deep breath, she stared pointedly at the wall behind the Hokage.

"Can I go now?" she muttered through clenched teeth, though she had a pretty good feeling that the answer would be no. Sure enough, Tsunade shifted in her seat a little before leaning forward.

"What did Itachi say to you on these meetings?" she asked, eyes intent.

"I don't know, he didn't say much," Arya retorted, trying her best not to sound too exasperated. "There was one time though…"

"Go on," Homura prompted impatiently and Arya ignored him completely, her eyes on the Hokage instead.

"He said I was different. Unique. Something about how I have a 'greater purpose in life' but that I have 'much to learn', whatever the hell that was supposed to mean. He's not very clear, that one. When he did say something, he spoke in stupid riddles. I still have no idea what he was talking about."

Tsunade's eyes flickered to the side, to where Enta and Kakashi stood. She didn't have to look to know that something was exchanged between the three, and she narrowed her eyes. Back at the hospital she suspected that Kakashi and Enta knew something that they weren't telling her. Now she was certain that there was something being kept from her.

"What aren't you telling me?" she asked, drawing the Hokage's eyes slowly back to her. "And don't tell me it's nothing, because I'm not stupid."

A smirk crossed Tsunade's lips then, and she propped her chin up on a fist. "No, you are many things, but I don't think stupid is one of them." Before Arya could wonder whether that was a compliment or not, she continued. "Itachi Uchiha is a missing ninja of Konoha. He abandoned the village after massacring the Uchiha clan."

At that, Arya couldn't help but look over at Sasuke who looked like he was ready to snap someone's neck. His eyes were blaring red, fists clenched as he glared at nothing in particular. Beside him, a worried Sakura touched his arm gently. He didn't acknowledge the gesture, but he didn't brush her off either, simply continuing to seethe silently. Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke's brother, murdered his own family before abandoning his village. Arya realized that that was why the older Sharingan user seemed so familiar. Though they'd never directly interacted, she had seen him around the village back before she left for Kage. How could she have forgotten? Itachi was a prodigy, just like Kakashi had been.

"He's part of a group called the Akatsuki, along with other missing ninja from other villages," said the Hokage, drawing Arya's attention back to her. "They are an S-ranked criminal organization, headed by one named Pein. The hidden villages have made it a priority to shut this organization down, and they have succeeded in collectively taking down three of the nine members so far. They've been laying low for a while now, be we think that's because they're plotting something. Something big."

"That's interesting and all, but I don't see how they have anything to do with me," she said, raising an eyebrow.

"Itachi wasn't yet a part of the Akatsuki when you left the village four years ago," the older woman said, only confusing Arya further. What did that have to do with anything? "That being said, the Akatsuki were already formed by then, and they were already making plans. Plans that involved you."

"What? Me? What do I have to do with anything," she asked, a disbelieving look crossing her face. The conversation was getting progressively weirder, and Arya was beginning to wonder if she was in some fucked up genjutsu or something.

"Arya. You are aware, more than anyone, of how powerful that spirit sealed within you is. That being said, you aren't the only one who knows about it. Ryujin may not be as well known as the tailed beasts, but he is a powerful spirit nonetheless. It seems that the Akatsuki know that and have been keeping an eye on you because of it."

She was at a loss. Not many people knew about the fire spirits, let alone that there was one sealed inside a human vessel. Call it ignorance, but she assumed no one aside from a very select few close to her knew about it. And now Tsunade was telling her that an international criminal organization knew about it and was keeping tabs on her as a result?

"I…what could they possibly want with me?"

"It isn't you so much as that the spirit. You are a vessel, and so naturally they're going to take an interest in you by extension. Fire spirits are tricky things, don't really get along with those that aren't their kind, which is why they are rarely found sealed within vessels. But when they are, they become very attached to their host, as you know. And that means that they need you too, not just the spirit. As for why…well, for the power I suppose. At one point in time they were trying to capture the tailed beasts for a similar reason; to harness their powerful chakra. For whatever reason, they have shifted their attention off the tailed beasts and to the fire spirits instead."

"…You're trying to tell me that these freaks want to take me for their own fucked up reasons and no one thought that it'd be a good idea to tell me about it? How long have you guys known about all of this?" Fuming now, Arya glared at the people seated before her before turning her livid eyes onto Kakashi and Enta. They'd been in on this too.

"We've known for a little over four years," responded Tsunade, seemingly unfazed by her anger. A little over four years? That would have been around the time she left the Hidden Leaf. Tsunade wasn't in office then, Lord Third being the Hokage at the time, but clearly she'd been filled in on all the details. And for some reason, Arya felt that there was still something else that she was missing.

"I don't get why no one told me any of this. You all knew, and yet you didn't think it was important enough to tell me about it. Instead I was allowed to leave the damn village. Maybe if I was told about all of this, I'd have stayed and the whole mess with Itachi wouldn't have happened in the first place." That was a stretch. At the time, right after Kakashi effectively broke her heart, she'd barged into the Hokage's office and demanded that she be sent away for an extended mission. That was when Hiruzen Sarutobi offered her the transfer to Kagegakure along with Enta. It'd been the perfect escape, and so she jumped at the chance. Realistically speaking, with the emotions running through her at the time, she wouldn't have stayed in Konoha either way. Regardless of what she did or didn't know.

"The point was to get you out of the village."

Arya was mid-mental rant when Tsunade's words registered.

"What did you say?"

"You needed to be moved out of the village. Lord Third decided that it was the best course of action at the time," Tsunade responded, and Arya caught her eyes drift to the side of the room again before returning to rest on her.

"But…I was the one who wanted to leave. I went to the Hokage to ask to be sent off on a mission myself. Of my own free will, I mean."

"It was a…calculated move. You were the one to approach the Hokage, but that's was the reaction they were hoping for."

"They…What? I don't understand…" She was starting to get an odd feeling in her chest as her mind began to race. What did she mean? A calculated move? She looked over at Enta and Kakashi attempting to gauge their reactions, but what she saw only unsettled her further. Enta, always the more expressive of the two, was looking both guilty and troubled whereas Kakashi refused to look at her entirely. He was instead glaring at the floor, and from where she was standing, she could see the outline of his clenched fists within his pockets. Something definitely wasn't right.

"Perhaps this is something you could discuss later," said Tsunade, her mask of indifference slipping for the first time to show…pity? "I'm sure you can-"

"No. I want to know now."

"Now is not the time to-"

"If you guys fucking manipulated me into wanting to leave this stupid village for whatever reason, I think I deserve an explanation," she all but growled, her voice dropping half an octave. It wasn't much, but it was a good warning sign that things were going downhill. Tsunade noticed this, and she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Listen kid, I understand that this may be a lot to take in, but believe me when I say that some things aren't meant to be hashed out in front of a dozen or so spectators, alright?"

"No," said Arya, and the tone of her voice had Tsunade dropping her hand as the Elders tensed. She could see Shikaku and Inoichi both shift subtly as well, angling forward in their chairs. Ibiki was the most obvious out of the bunch of them, actually getting to his feet and giving her a hard glare that was no doubt supposed to intimidate her into submission. Unfortunately for him, she couldn't care less about any of them, her eyes trained on the older woman before her. "You listen to me, Hokage, I came here and answered your questions and now you will answer mine. Tell me."

The tenseness in the room was palpable, only made more so when her eyes began to darken ever so slightly. Fists clenched tight enough that they trembled, she could see Enta take a couple steps towards her from her peripheral vision. Unlike the Elders or the three men before her, he didn't look wary or tense, he just looked…guilty.

"Princess, come on," he started in an almost light, teasing tone, clearly trying to diffuse the situation before it got too out of hand. Perhaps he was just trying to avoid a situation in which he'd have to choose between protecting her and defending the Hokage. "I'll tell you everything once we get back to your room, alright?"

Like the Hokage, Enta was stalling and trying to put off the inevitable. And it infuriated her further. She just wanted a straight answer, was that so much to ask? What was so bad that they were reluctant to tell her? Regardless of their reasons, Arya could feel her careful control slipping as her anger mounted. Almost as if on cue, Ryujin rumbled disapprovingly in her head. She opened her mouth, probably to make a couple threats when all of a sudden she was interrupted by someone else.

"What?" she asked, turning her head to face Kakashi, much like everyone else in the room. His hands were still in his pockets, his face carefully blank, though she could sense a tenseness around his visible eye. At the sight of him, with Ryujin so close to the surface, she felt the spirit's intense desire to attack the silver haired ninja. The beast was goading her in her head, tauntingly telling her to strike him. It took an effort to battle him back down and silence him, but it was working, her eyes clearing up again. Though the voice in her head was now gone, she was left with a pounding headache and, for whatever reason, an ache in her chest as she focused on Kakashi who'd taken a couple steps towards her.

"Not much was known about the Akatsuki's intentions with the fire spirits," he repeated in that infuriatingly lax tone of his. They were facing one another now, a couple feet between them. She itched to jam her hands into her pockets again, but _he_ was doing that at the moment and so she refused to do so herself. Instead, she met his gaze evenly, waiting for him to continue. "All we really knew was that they wanted you. We didn't know why or how they planned to do it, but we figured it was to harness Ryujin's chakra. It was the most likely explanation, especially considering that they were after the tailed beasts for the exact same reason. One of their members contacted us once, this was after we learned they were after you, and proposed a…deal." Shifting on his feet ever so slightly, his eye flickered to Enta for a moment before returning to rest on her.

"What kind of a deal?" she asked, her voice sounding faint even to her own ears. How was it that she was so lost and yet still knew with an odd sort of certainty that she wasn't going to like where any of this was going?

"They agreed to leave you alone. To not pursue you. It was a weird proposal, especially considering that we assumed all their plans revolved around capturing you. But it turned out that their plans involved removing you from the village rather than taking you for themselves. Or at least, they did."

"But…why would they want me out of the village?"

At that, Kakashi shrugged slightly. "The details weren't clear, still aren't. But from what we know, the Akatsuki were originally intending to attack the village, but couldn't risk having you here when they did so. Of course, they didn't tell us that, but we assumed as much."

"And so you guys decided to give in to their demands and send me away and risk an attack on the village?" she asked, incredulous at the apparent stupidity of the Third Hokage and everyone who had a say on the matter. "Wouldn't it have made more sense to keep me around and avoid the attack?"

"It wasn't that simple," he said, shifting on his feet. "If the Akatsuki really were planning an attack, which we weren't even sure they were, there could be a very good chance that they'd attack regardless of whether or not you left the village. We couldn't risk the chance that they would still attack if we kept you, couldn't run the risk of having them take you in the exchange, and so Lord Third decided that it'd be best for you to leave. I know you don't understand why," he said quickly before she could interrupt, "just know that it wasn't a decision he made lightly. I know, personally, that he spent a lot of time mulling over each and every possibility. I made sure of it."

Not knowing how to respond to that, Arya fell silent. She was trying to process all this new information. Trying to follow the thought processes and the details to attempt to make some sort of sense out of it all. She supposed, on some weird level, that what Kakashi was saying made sense. She didn't agree with the decision to send her away, but she could see why that overly sentimental Hokage would make said decision. Though some of her questions were answered, there was still one big one that remained unanswered. Perhaps the most important of all.

"She said that my decision to leave the village was a calculated move. Planned out," she said slowly, noticing Kakashi's jaw tighten behind his mask. The almost imperceptible move had her heart thudding in her chest, and she swallowed thickly, wondering why she was having this sort of a reaction. "We both know why I went to the Sandaime to ask for an extended mission, so how…" She trailed off uncertainly, unwilling to even suggest that there was some sort of a connection between the two statements. Somehow, she was beginning to think that there was a connection though, and her heart squeezed at the implications.

"We needed you to leave the village, and we knew that telling you the real reason why would only make you refuse to go," said Kakashi, and she could sense the faintest hint of hesitance in his voice. Kakashi Hatake didn't hesitate. This wasn't good.

"And…?"

"And everyone also knew that you'd never leave with me here…I tied you to this village. You'd have never voluntarily left me."

The room went oddly silent then. Behind Kakashi, his students were exchanging confused looks with one another. They were the only ones in the room who didn't know about her relationship with their sensei. Yet.

"…What are you saying?" she asked, horrified to hear that her voice cracked once. The wheels had begun turning in her head, but she refused to allow her mind to wander down the most obvious route. She couldn't…He wouldn't have…Would he?

"Arya." He said her name softly, intimately, and she wanted to scream at him to shut up while simultaneously begging him to keep talking. That look in his eye, the way he took one jerky step towards her, it was all becoming too much for her.

"Tell me," she demanded as a lump formed in her throat. Kakashi stilled before her, only an arms length away now. His eye drifted shut for a moment as he fell silent. When he opened it again, he was all business, his expression flat once again. Part of her was grateful for that, this Kakashi was so much easier to deal with than the more expressive version of him. Or at least, that's how she felt under the current circumstances.

"As long as we were together, you wouldn't have left. And even if you somehow did go, you'd have never completely cut ties with Konoha. With me. We needed you to cut those ties."

"No…" she whispered, mostly to herself as things started to fall into place.

_No, no, no, no. Please, no. _

"You were in love with me," he continued mechanically, and Arya could help but wince slightly at the way he almost seemed to throw that fact in her face. Behind him, Sakura gasped and Naruto gaped like a fish out of water. "You wouldn't have broken up with me any time soon."

"No," she said again, this time a little louder as she felt an odd prickling behind her eyes. She had to dig her nails into her palms, hard enough to break the skin, in order to try and keep the tears at bay. She would not cry in front of him. Not under any circumstance. Not again.

"The only other option was for me to break up with you," he said as though she hadn't spoken, his voice as flat as the look in his eye. "And so I did. I had to make it believable. I had to make you upset and angry enough to want to leave the village."

"Stop," she said hoarsely, not wanting to hear any more. Her teeth clenched, and she very nearly took a step back, as though his words were physically battering at her defenses instead of just figuratively doing so. Still, he paid no heed as he continued to speak like he hadn't heard her.

"It worked. I broke your heart. You wanted to get as far away from this village and me as you could."

"Stop it."

"You went to the Hokage, asked to be sent on an extended mission. And he just so happened to have one entailing a complete transfer to Kagegakure on hand for you."

"Shut up."

"The 'calculated move' worked exactly as it was intended to. You willingly cut ties with Konoha. You left the village, the Akatsuki didn't try to attack you. Everything worked out in the end. We-"

"SHUT UP," she roared, and this time Kakashi fell silent, his jaw snapping shut with an audible click. She was breathing heavy, her chest heaving as her hands trembled, but she hardly paid attention to that. She was far too busy being forced to acknowledge what Kakashi had just revealed to her. She felt the stinging in her eyes, knew that it'd only be a matter of time before the tears spilled over. And for all her visible distress, Kakashi simply stood there looking down at her with his usual, nonchalant expression, and it only added insult to the injury that he seemingly did not give a single fuck about the whole ordeal. Of course, she was much too distraught to notice the strain near his eye or the rigidness of his body. She could feel the familiar tingling throughout her form, the voice in her head, the darkening of her eyes. She couldn't be there, couldn't be around _him_. She couldn't even look at him without wanting to simultaneously rip out both their hearts. Ryujin agreed with the idea, well, he agreed with ripping out Kakashi's.

But she couldn't.

She was angry, so angry. And it hurt. And it hurt, and it _hurt_.

But for all her anger and pain, she couldn't do him any harm. She was exactly where she was four years ago, when he'd broken up with her just as cruelly as he'd revealed his real motives for doing so just moments ago. She thought she was better, stronger, but she was right back to square one. And that realization, along with Kakashi's brutally delivered confession, drove her over the edge.

"Fuck you," she snarled animalistically, teary eyes flashing entirely black for a second before she dispersed into smoke and disappeared.

In the moments that followed after her exit, the room was completely silent. Even Naruto knew when to keep his trap shut apparently, simply continuing to gape silently, wondering if he was dreaming or caught in a genjutsu.

Tsunade had her steepled fingers in front of her face, staring at the spot the younger girl had stood moments ago. She herself was no stranger to heartbreak, having experienced it too many times in the past, and so she could empathize with Arya. She agreed that Kakashi had only done what he had to in order to keep her safe, but she also acknowledged why Arya wouldn't see it that way, at least not for a long while. It was obvious to her that the girl still had feelings for the Copy-Ninja, the way she'd reacted was proof of that. Speaking of feelings, she shifted her gaze to the man in question. Her perceptive eyes took in the hunch of his shoulders, more pronounced than his usual stance, the tenseness of his limbs, the strain on his face as he glared at the floor. He may have hid it better than Arya did, but Tsunade knew that the confession had affected him just as much as it affected her, perhaps even more so. Tsunade also knew that the infamous ninja was still in love with the Shadow kunoichi. Sighing, she rubbed her temples and wished for about a dozen bottles of sake. This was not what she'd had in mind for their meeting, but it seemed that it was over nonetheless. She looked past Kakashi, at Enta, taking in the apprehension in his stance, torn between wanting to comfort his best friend and going to check on his student. Just because he understood what had to be done, didn't mean that he could justify the hurt it brought Arya.

Shifting her gaze again, she looked to Enta's other two students and very nearly gave a halfhearted smirk. Though Enta's loyalties were torn, the two younger men didn't have such a problem. Their loyalties were very clearly with their teammate, if the murderous glares directed at the back of Kakashi's head were any indication. She looked to Team 7 next, wondering how they'd react to learning that their sensei, who'd never shown any interest in anyone before, had such a…complicated relationship with Arya. Sasuke, as she'd expected, was stoic in his surprise, almost dazed even. He, like Arya, had a lot to process. First with Itachi and now with the Akatsuki's looming plans and the whole mess with said kunoichi. Her apprentice looked suitably horrified with the whole ordeal, her green eyes wide, jaw dropped open in disbelief.

Tsunade's eyes finally landed on Naruto. The look on the boy's face was almost comical, but she couldn't find it in her to laugh. Sure, he was momentarily distracted with the details of his sensei's relationship, but he'd get over it soon. And when he did, he'd no doubt focus on the fact that Arya was a vessel, just like he was. Sure, the boy had met other Jinchuuriki before, but it was different when you had one living in the same village with you. Knowing Naruto, he'd want to bond over it and share stories and such, and knowing Arya, she'd very likely snap his neck for his efforts. Perhaps she should tell him to lay off for a while. Then again, the brat had a habit of not listening to her.

Sighing, she brought her eyes back to Kakashi, noticing that he'd managed to somewhat get ahold of himself. He looked almost normal, the customary slouch, hands in his pockets, face blank. But his eye was dead, completely devoid of anything and everything as he stared straight ahead.

"You're all dismissed," she said finally with a wave of her hand, acknowledging that there wasn't anything she could do to make this situation better for anyone involved. A split second after the words were out of her mouth, Kakashi was gone. Enta looked over at his students before turning to her, offering a strained smile as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I, uh, sorry about all that," he said and she managed to bark out a weary laugh.

"Don't even mention it," she said and then watched as he bowed before heading to the door, Zen and Haru stalking after him. Sasuke hesitated for a moment before following, leaving Sakura to glance between him and Naruto before also scurrying out. The blonde turned to her, opening his mouth to no doubt say something that she was in no mood to hear.

"Not now, brat," she interjected before he could say anything, and turned away from him. "Get out."

From the corner of her eyes she saw him hesitate, but he grumbled something under his breath before leaving as well, the door slamming shut behind him.

"Well then," said Homura after a beat, and Tsunade realized that she was in no mood to deal with any of them either. Unfortunately for her, they were harder to get rid of than a bunch of Chunin and their Sensei.

Sinking down in her seat, she propped her feet up on the table, ignoring the disapproving looks she was getting from the Elders.

"Someone find Shizune," she hollered to no one in particular, knowing that someone out there would hear and do her bidding. Perks of being Hokage. "Tell her to get me sake. Now." It was going to be a long day.

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